Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he would consider imposing a tariff upward of 60 percent on all Chinese imports if he regains the presidency. His remarks come at a time of high economic and other tensions between the US and China.
“No, I would say maybe it’s going to be more than that,” Trump said when asked by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” whether he would consider imposing a 60 percent tariff, as The Washington Post has reported.
As president, Trump slapped tariffs of 25 percent on $50 billion of Chinese goods in June 2018. Beijing countered with its own tariffs, and the spiral continued until the two countries arrived at an agreement in 2020. The Biden administration has largely kept the Trump-era tariffs in place.
The former president also said he thought China would try to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.
“I think they will, and they won’t be interfering on my behalf. We should go same-day voting, paper ballots, voter ID and no mail-in ballots,” Trump said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden that China would not interfere in the 2024 US presidential election when the two men met in November, CNN has reported. But FBI Director Christopher Wray warned Wednesday that Chinese hackers are preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm” to the US.
Trump also praised Xi, whom he described as “a very good friend of mine during my term,” and said, “I want China to do great, I do.”
Trump would not say whether he would intervene if China tried taking over Taiwan, arguing that doing so would “jeopardize my negotiating ability with China.”
China’s ruling Communist Party views Taiwan as part of its territory, despite never having controlled it, and leader Xi has not ruled out the use of military force to “reunify” the island with the mainland.
The US, meanwhile, is obligated under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself, something Beijing regards as interference in its internal affairs.
CNN’s Jack Forrest and Brad Lendon contributed to this report.
