Skip to main content

Pelosi Statement on Trump Administration’s New Tariffs on China

March 22, 2018

Contact: Ashley Etienne/Henry Connelly, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after President Trump directed his Administration to impose new tariffs on Chinese products:

"The United States must take strong, smart and strategic action against China's brazenly unfair trade policies. Yet, today's announcement is merely a start, and the Trump Administration must do much more to fight for American workers and products.

"The report of the USTR investigation on China's intellectual property theft is a good first step, but far more is need to confront the full range of China's bad behavior. Beijing's regulatory barriers, localization requirements, labor abuses, anti-competitive ‘Made in China 2025' policy and many other unfair trade practices require a full and comprehensive response. The tariffs announced today should be used as a leverage point to negotiate more fair and open trade for U.S. products in China.

"The Trump Administration must show the moral courage to use its economic leverage to not only guarantee free trade for American products in Chinese markets, but also to advance human rights in China and Tibet. If we do not speak out for human rights in China because of economic concerns, then we lose all moral authority to talk about human rights in any other place in the world. It is long past time that the President honor his moral responsibility to protect American workers, American values and American economic interests."

# # #