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."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.