Trump, allies play down worries about trade war

Washington — President Donald Trump and his allies again assured the country on Sunday morning that they do not expect China to actually implement threatened tariffs that could rock the U.S. economy and hurt American farmers, especially those who grow soybeans or raise hogs.

“China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do,” Trump said in a tweet on Sunday morning. “Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!”

In interviews on Sunday talk shows, administration officials defended the president’s trade approach and emerging policy with regard to China. Both China and the United States have threatened to levy new tariffs on each other, in an escalating trade dispute.

“No president has had the backbone to take it up publicly before,” Larry Kudlow, the new chairman of the National Economic Council, said on CNN’S “State of the Union.” “So, I think he is exactly right. And I say to everybody on this, the problem here is China. It is not President Trump. China has been getting away with this for decades.”

Kudlow said a “coalition of the willing” was being formed to pressure President Xi Jinping, including by taking the issue to the World Trade Organization, to crack down on China’s trade practices. Kudlow declined to release a full list of countries involved during an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” but he said Australia, Canada and much of Europe were among them.

Administration officials tried to tamp down growing concerns about the impact of a trade war on farmers. They suggested the trade dispute may be resolved through negotiations and that the “process may turn out to be very benign,” according to Kudlow.

But they said they plan on moving forward on new tariffs on China.

“We’re listening to the Chinese. We’re willing to work with them,” Peter Navarro, director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”