PHOENIX — A top U.S. Commerce Department official, attending an event here Tuesday, defended the trade wars launched by President Trump.
“They’re not bad for the economy,” said Tom Gilman, an assistant secretary at the federal department. “The trade wars and the tariffs are being used as a way of getting our trading partners’ attention.”
Gilman also said that whatever attention is being paid to impeachment, including by the president, whose social media posts on that issue exceed those on trade, is not undermining trade negotiations.
His comments to reporters followed an event with Gov. Doug Ducey to promote manufacturing in Arizona and nationwide.
The governor used the opportunity to criticize House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for failing to advance the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement even as Democrats continue to focus on impeachment.
“This is a bipartisan issue,” Ducey said. “I’m just hopeful the speaker loves her country more than she wants to get involved in the politics of Washington right now.”
And Ducey called it “almost beyond belief” that the trade pact awaits hearing with less than three weeks left in the congressional session.
Ducey said any moves on impeachment should not hold up action on the USMCA.
“Congress can do two things at once,” the Republican governor said. “They can walk and chew gum.”
The discussion of impeachment has been front and center at the nation’s capital.
But Gilman said that isn’t undermining the ability of the administration to have a consistent trade policy.
“Make no mistake about it: Behind the scenes the U.S. government is solid,” he said.
“It’s running the way it should be,” Gilman continued. “There has been no stopping in the trade negotiations, no stopping in our trade policy development, no stopping in the tariffs, no stopping in trade enforcement because of impeachment.”
The trade wars that Gilman is defending have had particular effects on farmers. In Arizona that includes those who grow cotton and pecans, as China has imposed new tariffs to retaliate for those imposed on this end on Chinese goods.
That could ease as Chinese officials said they are close to finalizing the first phase of a deal that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping could sign next month.
Gilman said that the tariffs — and even just the threat — can help U.S. farmers in the long run.
For example, he said, Mexico was “dumping” tomatoes into Arizona and Texas. That led to threats on this side of the border to impose duties of up to 25 percent.
“We negotiated a trade agreement that stopped that practice,” Gilman said. He said that’s just a part of his agency’s role in “trade enforcement.”
“That’s a very important part of keeping everyone honest.”
