President Trump is facing a significant backlash from Senate Republicans over his trade talks with China, which they see as delivering far less than he promised.
Several GOP senators say Trump has wound up on the losing side of the discussions, and his talk of lifting rules barring U.S. companies from selling to the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE has prompted a revolt.
The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of an amendment to block Trump from easing penalties on ZTE, which violated U.S. sanctions by selling equipment to North Korea and Iran. The panel’s action followed a similar vote by a House panel last week.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on “Fox News Sunday” that “we’re putting the trade war on hold” by pulling back on the threat of tariffs. But that announcement did not appease unhappy Republicans upset over the administration’s mixed messages.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) blasted Trump’s trade strategy on Tuesday as ineffective.
“Sadly #China is out-negotiating the administration & winning the trade talks right now,” he wrote on Twitter. “They have avoided tariffs & got a #ZTE deal without giving up anything meaningful in return by using N. Korea talks & agriculture issues as leverage.”
Lawmakers from farm states have been the most vocal in pressing Trump to reconsider his tactics.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said farmers and ranchers he met with on Tuesday are not reassured by Trump’s claim over the weekend via Twitter that “China has agreed to buy massive amounts of additional farm/agricultural products.”
“I’ve been meeting with farmers and ranchers all morning. I have not yet heard one who thinks the U.S. has won anything from the Chinese leadership,” he said. “They’re scared to death.”
Sasse, who ripped Trump’s trade policies earlier this year as the “dumbest possible way” to take on China, said Trump doesn’t appear to have made significant progress addressing two major economic threats facing the United States: China’s ambitions to dominate high-tech industries and its rampant theft of U.S. intellectual property.
“All that I have seen would suggest that China’s winning,” he said. “The big two are the Made in China 2025 initiative and the way they steal our [intellectual property].”
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NEW: Republicans think Trump is losing the trade war with China https://t.co/b8YhukkU9s pic.twitter.com/dtbc6xxgdo
— The Hill (@thehill) May 23, 2018
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