Grassley: President Is On The Right Track

Ask longtime Ag senator Chuck Grassley, and he’ll tell you President Trump is right to continue his tariff pressure on China.  The Iowa Republican says he agrees with President Trump’s strategy to keep the tariff pressure on China to get serious in negotiations, which were planned to resume this month.

However Grassley noted.

“In conversations I’ve had, it’s pretty certain the United States doesn’t care to sit down and talk, unless there’s going to be real serious movement on the three or four-things that we think are most important; manipulating the currency, stealing intellectual property, trade secrets and transfer of technology,”

Stocks soared Thursday, after China’s commerce ministry said it was opposed to escalating trade tensions, and that it wished to resolve its long-running trade dispute with the U.S. with a calm attitude.  Despite those comments, President Trump went ahead with September 1^st tariff hikes.  Grassley said the tariff war has still not soured farmers on the president, despite the trade damage.

“Farmers sticking with the president, because they know, China shouldn’t be allowed to cheat, as a member of the World Trade Organization  There’s still the anxiety out there, there’s still a wish, something could be settled very quickly.”

The American Farm Bureau says the tariff war with China has more than cut in half U.S. farm sales to China.

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