Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated President Donald Trump for his tariff strategy at the recently held cabinet meeting.
President Donald Trump recently issued a series of tariffs targeting what his administration believes are unfair trade practices.
After a few days of negotiations, President Trump issued a 90-day freeze on tariffs for all countries that opted for negotiation rather than retaliation.
In the weeks and months to come, the Trump administration will seek to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with the more than 75 countries that have expressed a desire to do so.
Secretary Rubio lauded President Trump's tariff strategy for realigning international trade to the benefit of US interests.
Rubio claimed Trump's tariffs will help bring back jobs to the US that had been offshored to cheaper labor markets.
"One of the most important things you'll achieve in your presidency is reordering the world in a proper way,” said Rubio.
Rubio emphasized how, according to him, multiple administrations have allowed the Chinese to take advantage of the US.
“For more than 31 years, multiple administrations have allowed the Chinese to de-industrialize this country, to take away jobs and factories and pillars of our national strength," continued Rubio.
Trump recently announced he was raising tariffs on imports from China to 125%, “effective immediately.”
China responded by similarly raising its tariffs on US products to 125%. The tit-for-tat tariff escalation between the two world’s largest economies has created uncertainty in international financial markets, the likes of which have not been seen in recent history.
The US and China’s combined trade is worth nearly $600 billion. However, while the US imports $438.9 billion in exports from China, the latter only imports $143.5 billion in US exports.
