Oct. 15, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to a report from Bloomberg stating that China may be already breaking the trade deal agreed to over the weekend, changing the terms and demanding removal of tariffs:
“Bloomberg is reporting that once again China is attempting to move the goal posts on a trade deal. The latest phase one deal with China would include the purchase of $40 billion to $50 billion of agriculture, a monetary accord, intellectual property provisions and opening Chinese markets to the financial services sector. Predictably, China has already begun to change the terms of the verbal agreement, according to Bloomberg, which reports it will only buy the agriculture in return for removal of tariffs. They did the same thing in May. If true, President Trump should immediately reaffirm that the existing tariffs on all Chinese goods are permanent, and suspend negotiations, with new tariffs above and beyond the current levels. Setting this permanent floor on tariffs will send a clear message to multinational Chinese exporters that need to diverse and move supply chains to the United States out of the Middle Kingdom. Any sense that exporters can wait out the Trump tariffs should be put to bed once and for all.
“China has repeatedly proven that they are neither honest nor even willing trade partners, and as a result, if the Bloomberg report is correct, their access to U.S. markets needs to be restricted until they prove otherwise.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.
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