Schumer backs Trump approach to China: He’s ‘on the right path’ – By Brett Samuels (thehill.com) / April 22 2018
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he supports President Trump’s efforts to pressure China on trade issues.
Schumer told New York AM 970 radio host John Catsimatidis that he credits Trump with “squeezing China,” adding that the president is “on the right path, particularly with the intellectual property.”
“China is not helpful to the United States. They are happy to see us in trouble,” Schumer said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
“And the way to get at them – what is the motherload for China – is their trade with us,” Schumer added. “They take advantage of American workers, American wealth, American companies regularly. I called them rapacious.”
He added that pressuring China on trade could force the Chinese to cooperate with American interests in North Korea, where the U.S. is is working to get North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons program.
Trump has attacked China for its trade practices since he hit the campaign trail in 2015. In recent weeks, his administration has announced $50 billion in tariffs against Chinese imports to the U.S., and has threatened to impose another $100 billion.
China has promised to fight back with its own tariffs on U.S. goods.
Lawmakers have expressed concerns that the tariffs could spark a trade war with China, which could hurt American workers and farmers who export their goods to China.
The president has also accused China of devaluing its currency, despite the Treasury Department ruling last week that Beijing was not manipulating the value of its money.
