U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said she is extremely supportive of President Donald Trump’s recent decision to hold off on issuing tariffs on Chinese imports while the United States continues trade negotiations with the Chinese government.
“I’ve been urging the administration from the beginning to reverse course on tariffs and pursue more targeted approaches that keep farmers and producers in Eastern Washington at the forefront,” Rep. McMorris Rodgers said on May 21 following remarks over the weekend by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The secretary announced the White House would suspend its efforts to impose tariffs on $150 billion worth of Chinese imports to the United States, and that China also planned to end its retaliatory counter tariffs on America. However, if the trade negotiations aren’t successful, Mnuchin said during a May 21 interview on CNBC, “the president can always put tariffs back on.”
The ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China that began in January reached a tipping point in April when the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a proposed list of products imported from China that could be subject to additional tariffs following its Section 301 trade act investigation of the country.
President Trump already had approved tariffs on imported steel and aluminum under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. China responded with proposed tariffs of 15 percent on U.S. agricultural goods such as apples, nuts, ethanol, and wine, and a 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork exports. The actions particularly concerned Rep. McMorris Rodgers, who became part of a congressional campaign to convince the White House to pursue measures other than the proposed tariffs.
For instance, Rep. McMorris Rodgers met with administration officials, released numerous statements to the national media and joined 46 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in signing on to an April 13 letter to the president calling for him to tread lightly on American agriculture while taking China to task over trade dealings with the United States.
“Our farmers are already operating on thin margins,” she said this week. “At the same time, they are losing access to markets that took years to develop and could take many years to get back.”
After meeting with farmers throughout her district in eastern Washington State, the congresswoman added that “they are worried, and rightfully so.”
Additional tariffs imposed by China on the United States could make the situation for American farmers “even worse by risking a trade war,” she said.
Along with her colleagues, Rep. McMorris Rodgers has encouraged the president “to work diligently” in negotiating with China “in a manner that will avoid retaliation,” according to their April 13 letter.
The lawmaker reiterated that stance this week and said, “We must hold China accountable, protect our intellectual property, and reduce our trade deficit without putting our farmers at risk.”