President Donald Trump is leveraging the power of the American economy to open China to U.S. exporters as Washington and Beijing work toward a potential trade deal, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on “Fox News Sunday.”
When asked about the ripple effect that Trump’s tariffs are having on dockworkers, the trucking industry and others, Lutnick asked them to remember that “this is just a China problem right now.”
Lutnick referenced the 145% tariff Trump put on Chinese imports and the 125% duties China slapped on U.S. imports in retaliation.
“Those tariffs are too high to do business, but that’s why they’re talking right now,” he said of the China tariffs. “The rest of the world is 10%, so don’t overdo it. The rest of the world is 10%. They’re sending their goods here, as the president has said, time and time again. We are the consumer of the world. Everybody wants to sell their goods here, so they need to do business with America, and we’re using the power of our economy to open their economy to our exporters.”
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Lutnick added that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is leading the trade negotiations with China, was in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend to speak with his Chinese counterparts on tariffs and trade.
Trump posted on social media Saturday that “great progress” was being made in ongoing U.S.-China talks.
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Lutnick also said that Trump is focused on bringing manufacturing back to America, adding that those who make their products in America won’t have to pay tariffs.
“And if you want to build overseas, okay, you’ll pay tariffs and you’ll be less competitive in America, so build here,” he said.
Trade deals that the Trump administration is working on with other big-economy countries, like the U.K., would also allow more U.S. manufacturers to export to those countries, the commerce secretary said.
“And our idea is, have the Americans be able to export to those countries, grow America, right? Ranchers, produce, vegetables, machinery, ethanol, things like that, sell to those country, lower their tariff rate, and then bring manufacturing back to America,” he said.
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