Representative Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) discussed President Donald Trump's tariffs with The Floridian, telling us he is "tired of people on TV saying that we have fair trade right now. It is not fair trade."
Rep. Haridopolos pointed out that the United States is "taxed at a higher rate than every other country we would trade with, and all we are asking for is what people have called free and fair trade."
"If you and I were two different countries and said, 'What is your tax rate? I will match it. So if you tax me 10, I will tax you 10, or even better, zero, right?" Rep. Haridopolos added, "So that is the misnomer right now, that fair trade exists. It does not. We are at a competitive disadvantage on tax rates and tariffs between countries, and that does not get into some of the other things they do in other countries."
After all, "This is not 1945; this is 2025. In 1945, the rest of the world was devastated by World War II, and we wanted to help all nations, right? And we have done that, but now we are saying, 'Hey, treat us fairly. We have been a great trading partner of yours for years. Why are you taxing us here and ours not being equal?' The President is saying, 'Let's equal this out.'
"Of course, China is the outlier here," the Florida Congressman continued, pointing out that not only do they not practice fair trade, "but they steal our intellectual property. They steal our research and development. In general, they have slave labor; they manipulate their currency. I mean, this is why we are trying to tell all of the other partners, 'Who do you really want as a partner, a communist dictatorship that takes advantage of countries once they do the Belt and Road? Or do you want to have a nation called the United States that always comes to people's aid when needed?"
Haridopolos further noted that the Chinese lied about the origins of COVID-19 and compared trade agreements with them to the Mafia, "meaning once you get in, they do not want you to get out."
Thus, the overall point of Trump's tariffs is that "we need to create better supply chains with true friends, and a true friend would not tax you at one rate and have an unfair trade."
