Donald Trump’s views on trade agreements have been consistently negative
- In latest tweet, Trump tells companies that the easiest way to avoid tariffs is to produce their goods in US
- Trump’s views on some issues have evolved over the years, but not so much on trade
US President Donald Trump’s combative approach to trade has been one of the main constants among his often-shifting political views. And he is showing no signs of backing off now, even as the stakes intensify with the threat of a full-blown trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
The president went after China on Day 1 of his presidential bid, promising to “bring back our jobs from China, from Mexico, from Japan, from so many places”.
Trump’s views on trade helped forge his path to victory in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, where he linked the loss of manufacturing jobs to the North America Free Trade Agreement and other trade deals. He warned the worst was yet to come with US President Barack Obama’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership.
His trashing of existing and proposed trade agreements grabbed the headlines, but he also made clear his view that globalisation had been bad for America and that he would use tariffs to protect national security and domestic producers. He cited the nation’s Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan as leaders whose footsteps he was following when it came to trade and tariffs.
“Our original Constitution did not even have an income tax,” Trump told voters in Monessen, Pennsylvania, some four months before the 2016 presidential election. “Instead, it had tariffs, emphasising taxation of foreign, not domestic production.”