Collins: Trump should get credit for China tariffs

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on Sunday that President Trump should get credit for his tariffs on China, but warned it should be done more cautiously. 

“I think we need a more nuanced approach, but I give the president credit for levying these tariffs against the Chinese, with whom we’ve talked for a decade about their unfair trade practices and their theft of intellectual property from American firms,” Collins told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” 

{mosads}”This is costing us jobs in this country, and we do need to get tough with China, but we need to do so in a way that we do not spark a trade war and retaliation that will end up with our European and Asian competitors getting business that otherwise would have come to American farmers,” she continued. 

Collins’s comments come as Washington and Beijing find themselves in a trade dispute. 

While Trump has insisted the U.S. and China are not in a trade war, the two countries have threatened to slap tariffs on each other’s goods. 

The Trump administration said it plans to enact tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, causing China to respond with its own $50 billion tariff package aimed at U.S. goods including automobiles.

Trump tweeted on Sunday that China will remove its trade barriers. 

President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade. China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2018