Trump ramps up talk of tariffs
Firms going overseas are targeted; aides downplay Taiwan call
Donald Trump and aides braced for a busy week Sunday by threatening tariffs on companies that move jobs overseas, while downplaying China’s protest of an unprecedented phone call between the American presidentelect and the leader of Taiwan.
Just days after praising a deal providing tax breaks to a company for keeping jobs in the U.S., Trump renewed his threat to slap tariffs on the products of companies that outsource in the future.
“There will be a tax ... soon” of 35% for companies that go overseas and try to sell goods “back across the border,” Trump said during a Sunday tweet storm.
Trump aides, meanwhile, described the president-elect’s call on Friday with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen as congratulatory in nature and said it does not signal a change in the “one China” policy toward the government in Beijing, at least not right now.
“I think I would just say to our counterparts in China that this was a moment of courtesy,” Vice President-elect Mike Pence told NBC’s Meet the Press, noting that Trump had a similar congratulatory call with China President Xi Jinping, and “that was not a discussion about policy.”
China, which claims Taiwan is a renegade province, protested Trump’s call.
Pence also told NBC that Trump is preparing to take office on Jan. 20, and “we’ll deal with policy at that time.”
In putting together an administration, Trump is planning more appointments and post-election rallies in the days ahead.
The president-elect said last week that, on Monday, he would nominate James Mattis, a retired