U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Wednesday said China should have higher tariffs and increased economic pressure from President Donald Trump ahead of the Trump administration’s sweeping trade reformed that is now primarily aimed at China.
Hagerty, in comments made on Fox Business‘ “Mornings with Maria,” argued “China should have seen this coming,” because Trump “telegraphed this throughout the campaign.”
The senator explained, “He wants to rectify the situation with China,” calling it an “opportunity” for China to “step up to the plate” and make a serious agreement with the United States with the help of former U.S. Senator David Perdue, who Trump nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to China last year.
“I’m very optimistic that David Perdue, former U.S. Senator, will be confirmed as our Ambassador to China very soon,” said Hagerty. “When David Perdue gets into the mix, I think we’ll see a lot more opportunity to bring the parties together. That’s where we need to head with China.”
Hagerty’s comments came hours before Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs he imposed against more than 75 countries that either did not retaliate against his trade policies or asked to meet with the Trump administration in hopes of reaching a deal which would lower his tariffs.
At the same time, Trump hiked country’s tariff against Chinese goods to 125 percent.
“At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” wrote Trump in a Wednesday post to Truth Social.
Ultimately, the Tennessee Republican said Trump is working to correct an economic misalignment he said dates, “all the way back to World War II and the reconstruction efforts afterwards.”
Hagerty, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term, told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, “Japan, European nations got very favorable terms of trade. Now is the time to rectify that, though these are fully developed economies, and what we’ve seen is a very deep imbalance. We’re in the process of getting that adjusted. We started working on that when I was Ambassador, but COVID hit.”
Perhaps revealing the Trump administration’s strategy on trade, the senator later added, “I’ve been encouraging the parties to really focus broadly, make the problem larger, and then solve it.”
Watch Hagerty’s full appearance:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
