Former President Donald Trump defended his plan to increase tariffs on Chinese imports if elected for a second term, saying he did not mind if China retaliated with tariffs of its own on U.S. goods.
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawkbox” on Monday, Trump said he was not concerned that potential retaliatory action from China would harm U.S. growth.
“That’s OK, they might do that, but they didn’t do that with me,” he said. “Even if they do, let American companies come back to America.”
Trump has privately floated a tariff as high as 60% on Chinese imports if re-elected. He reaffirmed that stance in the interview, mentioning how Chinese manufacturers have relocated to Mexico to sell to the U.S.
“I would say to China: If you’re building a plant on our border to build cars in Mexico and to sell them into the United States, I’m putting a 50% tariff on all those cars,” he added.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to Trump’s comments.
Trump also attacked the Chinese-owned social media company TikTok, agreeing that the popular app poses a national security threat, but suggested he no longer supported banning it in the U.S. During his administration, he threatened to ban TikTok from the U.S. market.
“If you ban TikTok, Facebook and others, but mostly Facebook, will be a big beneficiary. And I think Facebook has been very bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections,” he said.
