Donald Trump says he's 'totally open' to imposing tariffs on Chinese goods

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

During the Fox Business Network debate, Donald Trump said he knows "so much about business in China," and is "open to a tariff if they don't treat us fairly."

"They do it to us, it's not fair trade," he said. Trump said that now, "political hacks" are dealing with China on trade, and "we need to use smart people to negotiate." He said he has many friends who "don't want to deal with China" because "when we do business with China, they tax us." Between the United States and China, "we don't have equal playing fields," he added, and "we don't have to continue to lose $505 billion as a trade deficit for the privilege of trading with China."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.