Trump hits back at US Chamber of Commerce on tariffs

Make sure to let us know what you think... we now have comments turned ON below the article!

President Donald Trump has received extraordinary criticism for his use of tariffs as an economic tool against America’s trading partners to correct imbalances, particularly following his recent threat of tariffs on imports from Mexico to spur concessions on border security and illegal immigration issues.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is an institution that has stood vocally opposed to Trump’s use of tariffs, but Trump just threatened to cancel his own membership if it persisted in being incapable of recognizing and accepting the success of his tactics to economically strengthen the United States.

Trump fires back

President Trump called in to CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday in response to an interview earlier in the day with Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who warned that Trump’s “weaponization of tariffs” would ultimately “hurt our country.” Asked for his response to what had been said, the president joked about his critic’s name and replied, “Well, I guess he’s not so brilliant.”

“Look, without tariffs we would be captive to every country, and we have been for many years, that’s why we’ve had an $800 billion deficit for years,” he said. “We lose a fortune with virtually every country. They take advantage of us in every way possible and the U.S. Chamber is right there with them.”

“And I’m a member of the U.S. Chamber, maybe I’ll have to rethink that, because when you look at it, the chamber is probably more for the companies and the people that are members than they are for our country, because without tariffs we would be absolutely — outside of something I won’t even mention — we would be absolutely at a competitive disadvantage the likes of which you’ve never seen,” he added.

Tariffs as bargaining tool

“People haven’t used tariffs, but tariffs are a beautiful thing when you’re the piggy bank, when you have all the money and everyone’s trying to get our money — China — and the China deal is gonna work out. You know why? Because of tariffs, because right now China is getting absolutely decimated by companies that are leaving China, going to other countries, including our own, because they don’t want to pay the tariffs,” Trump said.

Following some discussion about the recent deal struck with Mexico to avoid the threatened tariffs, the conversation shifted back to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Trump said of Brilliant, “He’s protecting companies that are members … he’s not protecting our country.”

“He’s doing a very big disservice, and frankly, I’ve never had support from the U.S. Chamber of Congress because they know where I stand on these things,” he said. “I don’t need money, I don’t care how things are, the only thing I care about is our country, and he’s protecting all of those companies that are members that like it just the way they are, and they have companies in Mexico and they have companies in China.”

Chamber’s skewed priorities

President Trump proceeded to reference the U.S. Chamber of Commerce several more times throughout the nearly 30-minute interview, and at one point said directly, “If we didn’t have tariffs, we wouldn’t have made a deal with Mexico.”

Trump took one final shot at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the interview ended, and said, “They have to start representing the United States, not just the companies that are members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was once viewed as an institution that stood up in defense of American businesses and workers. However, over the years, that institution has come to embrace the multi-national, globalist view of the economy that has prevailed over the past couple decades to the detriment of American businesses and workers.

Trump’s economic nationalism poses a threat to that globalist view, hence the sharp criticisms, but Trump quite obviously isn’t swayed by the opposition and intends to keep using whatever means are at his disposal — including tariffs — to improve America’s competitive stance in the world economy.

239 Responses

  1. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You definitely know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?

  2. Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be exciting to read articles from other authors and practice a little something from other web sites.

  3. I truly love your website.. Very nice colors & theme. Did you develop this web site yourself? Please reply back as I’m wanting to create my own website and would love to find out where you got this from or exactly what the theme is called. Thanks!

  4. I blog frequently and I genuinely appreciate your information. Your article has really peaked my interest. I am going to take a note of your site and keep checking for new details about once a week. I opted in for your RSS feed as well.

  5. Unquestionably believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the web the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while people think about worries that they plainly do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks

  6. Can I simply say what a relief to seek out somebody who truly is aware of what theyre speaking about on the internet. You undoubtedly know find out how to deliver a problem to light and make it important. More folks must read this and perceive this side of the story. I cant consider youre no more fashionable since you undoubtedly have the gift.

  7. Simple & Powerful Uploadea is Amazingly easy to Use where to Store Your Data & Save Your Countless Time

  8. I was excited to find this website. I wanted to thank you for ones time for this fantastic read!! I definitely savored every bit of it and I have you bookmarked to see new stuff on your site.

  9. After I originally commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I receive four emails with the exact same comment. Is there a means you are able to remove me from that service? Appreciate it!

  10. Hello my friend! I wish to say that this post is amazing, nice written and include approximately all important infos. I would like to see more posts like this.

  11. Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve visited your blog before but after browsing through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m definitely happy I came across it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!

  12. It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this superb blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and will share this website with my Facebook group. Talk soon!

  13. When I originally commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the exact same comment. Is there a means you can remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!

  14. We’re a gaggle of volunteers and opening a brand new scheme in our community. Your site offered us with helpful information to paintings on. You have performed an impressive task and our entire group will probably be grateful to you.

  15. Thank you, I have just been searching for information approximately this topic for a long time and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered so far. However, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you certain in regards to the supply?

  16. I am really loving the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A couple of my blog visitors have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any solutions to help fix this issue?

  17. I’d must verify with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I get pleasure from reading a post that can make individuals think. Also, thanks for permitting me to remark!

  18. Oh my goodness! Impressive article dude! Thanks, However I am encountering problems with your RSS. I don’t understand why I am unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody else having identical RSS problems? Anyone who knows the answer can you kindly respond? Thanks!!

  19. Hi there, I do think your blog could possibly be having browser compatibility issues. Whenever I take a look at your website in Safari, it looks fine however, if opening in I.E., it has some overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Aside from that, excellent site!

  20. Hi there! This blog post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this. I am going to send this article to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a very good read. Thanks for sharing!

  21. Thanks for such a fantastic blog. Where else could anyone get that kind of info written in such a perfect way? I have a presentation that I am presently writhing on, and I have been on the look out for such great information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Popular