[Listen to the interview with Donald Trump by pressing play button above:]
China’s economic growth is fueled by unfair trade policies that U.S.leaders should try to change by imposing a retaliatory tariff of 25% on all Chinese goods imported by America, Donald Trump said in an exclusive interview with Eagle Daily Investor.
A continuation of the status quo will allow China to keep growing its economy and creating jobs at the expense of the United States, Trump cautioned. Trump, a public backer of Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, said the current policies of President Barack Obama are a key reason why the United Statesis struggling economically.
“China is taking advantage of this country, the likes of which no one has ever done, other than the OPEC nations,” Trump said. “China is laughing at the stupidity of our leaders. They’re laughing at us as negotiators. They are literally rebuilding themselves off our money and on our back.”
Visitors to China can see the construction of new infrastructure that makes the country appear to be the “tenth wonder of the world,” Trump said.
“It’s unbelievable,” Trump said.
Part of the reason why China is growing so quickly is due to the U.S. dollars that the country has amassed to fund massive construction projects, Trump said.
“You look at the bridges they’re building, the roads, the tunnels; we’re building nothing in this country because we basically are a debtor nation, $16 trillion in debt, almost,” Trump said. “So, China has to be dealt with very firmly and very strongly.”
One way for the United States to begin to remedy the situation would be to impose an attention-grabbing, 25% tariff, if China continues to impose high barriers for American companies to do business there, Trump said.
“If you go to China now, if you sell trucks to China, they charge a 22% tax,” Trump said. “Nobody knows that, but it was a story about six months ago, which should have been a big story. It was a small story.”
Another problem that needs to be remedied is the ongoing devaluation of the Chinese currency to give its companies an unfair advantage in selling products to foreign buyers, Trump said.
“If you look at what is happening with the manipulation of their currency — brilliantly, I might add, because our people don’t even understand it, our leaders don’t understand it — they’re taking our jobs, they’re making our products, and they’re doing it through manipulation,” Trump said.
As a result, China must be dealt with “very, very strongly” by U.S. government leaders, Trump said.
“And the way to deal with them [Chinese leaders] is to tell them if they don’t straighten themselves out within 24 hours, we’re going to impose a 25% tax,” Trump said.
That 25% tariff should be imposed across-the-board on all Chinese goods exported by that country to the United States, Trump said.
“They will act so nicely after that happens because if that happened, number one, we’d start creating jobs in this country because it would equalize what they’re doing with their manipulation,” Trump said.
The actual tariff that the U.S. government should place on Chinese goods coming to America, “believe it or not,” actually should be 44%, not 25%, Trump said.
“I say 25% because I’m such a nice person, but the actual number should be 44%,” Trump said. “So, that’s the story, and they will come to the table so fast, because if they don’t, they will have a depression — the likes of which you’ve never seen before.”
When asked if such retaliatory tariffs by the United States would trigger a trade war with China, Trump said such an escalation would be to the advantage of the United States because China would have the most to lose.
“They do most of the business, we don’t,” Trump said. “It’s 10 to 1, so if there’s a trade war, we’re going to be the beneficiaries. China is going to make $350 billion this year on the United States, so if there’s a trade war, that’s good news, not bad news. Who cares?”
The current trade policies of each country are creating such an imbalance that the United States needs to take action to remedy the situation, Trump said. The U.S. trade deficit withChina, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, rose in 2011 to $295.4 billion, up from $273.1 billion in 2010 and $226.9 billion in 2009.
“The fact is that China is ripping us like nobody has ever done before,” Trump said.
People express concern about the possibility of a “trade war” but Trump instead expects Chinese leaders to realize that they will need to come to the negotiating table to form new trade polices that are less onerous for the United States.
“Number 1, when they really believe that we’re serious about imposing a tax on the products they sell to this country, they will come to the table so fast and furious, to use an Obama term, your head will spin,” Trump said.
In his book, “Time to Get Tough,” Trump wrote that China is bilking America out of hundreds of billions of dollars by manipulating and devaluing its currency.
“I’ve been criticized for calling them our enemy,” Trump wrote. “But what else do you call the people who are destroying your children’s and grandchildren’s future? What name would you prefer me to use for the people who are hell bent on bankrupting our nation, stealing our jobs, who spy on us to steal our technology, who are undermining our currency, and who are ruining our way of life?”
Regnery, the publisher of Trump’s book, and Eagle Daily Investor, share the same owner, Washington-based Eagle Publishing.
Paul Dykewicz is the editor of Eagle Daily Investor.
