In a Tuesday interview on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) weighed in on the Biden administration considering lifting tariffs on China put in place under former President Donald Trump.
Hagerty called cutting the tariffs “another misguided policy” from the White House and said China “laughs all the way to the bank” over Biden’s policies.
“Well, they’re talking about doing it again. It’s another misguided policy. And you think about what the Chinese Communist Party is seeing with Joe Biden. It’s been a gift from day one,” Hagerty lamented. “Reentering the Paris Climate Accord? China laughs all the way to the bank on that. If you look at our energy policies here in America, just broadly speaking, it is a huge benefit to China. Now, they’re talking about lifting the only leverage that we’ve got in place right now to bring China to more normalized trade relations with us? Look, I was ambassador to Japan, working hard on our trade deal with Japan at the same time Bob Lighthizer and his team [were] working on putting these tariffs in place on China. We didn’t have rampant inflation after the tariffs were installed, but we did have leverage.”
“What the Biden administration wants to do is give away that leverage and nothing for it in return? I can understand why Katherine Tai, the current trade representative, doesn’t want to do this. It’s just another gimmick that the Biden administration is pursuing — and again, a net benefit to China.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent