During Wednesday's town hall, Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) spoke about Trump's tariff war with China.
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00:00President Trump activates all these tariffs. Now, globally, the trade globally when it comes to America and every other country is very skewed.
00:20And you guys have probably very well read of this. We pay hundreds of percentages in some countries where imports for us is 2.3%. And we are taking a bath on that.
00:30So President Trump says, look, we're going to activate tariffs, cross the board, and he did it on a certain day, and then, of course, he kicked them out 90 days last week, the week before last.
00:40If I was having this conversation with you a few weeks ago, I would have said, okay, hey, so look, we have the cards in our hands.
00:47Now, what we want is we want the countries to come to us and we put these tariffs on to negotiate a lower rate.
00:52Because ideally, the best way forward to say, hey, look, we understand that you guys don't appreciate what taxes or tariffs that you have on us.
01:02We're going to have an even playing field. You want 2.3%, we'll have 2.3%. It may be great if we take it down to zero.
01:07But now, when he kicked it out the 90 days, is that better? Sorry, sorry.
01:13Countries are coming to the United States saying, okay, hey, let's talk about this. Where do we need to go?
01:18And that's the best way forward. Of course, now we have China. Now, we've bumped up to 145%, and then China's doing the exact same thing.
01:27So this is a full-fledged trade war. But tariffs work in certain ways. I get to ask this question, are tariffs good or bad?
01:36They're both. Absolutely. I looked at my 401k the other day. Let me tell you something. I don't want to look at it again.
01:43All right? It's not Republican or Democrat. It's just, hey, look, I took that hit. It's not?
01:48Yeah, cut it out. So in history, tariffs have been – our Democratic colleagues and our Republican colleagues, we argue about this,
02:00but both sides have been on the same side in history, especially when it comes to China.
02:06In 1996, our trade deficit with China was $35 billion. It's over $300 billion now. We are way out of sorts.
02:18And the tariffs, again, depending on how we play this out, now we get tariffs with China, Russia, Mexico, and Canada,
02:25in hopes that they come to the table and say, okay, look, this is just bad business altogether.
02:30What agreement can we come to to make this right?
02:34I stand here in front of you today, currently, and I was like, I don't have a – I don't know when that –
02:39I don't know what that looks like. I don't know when that's going to end.
02:42I wish I could tell you that. But this is the – this is the – I'm into a point now that, okay, look, we're in this.
02:50Don't abandon the ship. If we ride this thing out for a couple more weeks, what does that look like?
02:55And I know you don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear it either.
02:57But if we – if it comes out on the positive side, it's best for – I know, I know. I got you.
03:06It's there. I know. I got you. But if it – but, you know, it's just a what-if game.
03:10If it does, we bring jobs back to America. We increase tax revenue for the country. That's a great thing. It is.
03:20And presidents – what jobs are you talking about?
03:26Well, I just met with Mitsubishi and Toshiba and Samsung, and they're bringing thousands of people.
03:32We're 90% of our batteries. We're going to make a piece. We want all that industry here.
03:41We don't have the resources. Yes, we do. Yes, we do.
03:46Well, hang on. No, no, no. I just – you can have your questions. Let me finish while I'm going.
03:58Because bringing industry, our industrial footprint back to America is absolute.
04:05We are spread thin. We – as of last year, we import more agricultural than we export.
04:12We lose nine-and-a-half ranches in Texas a day. A day. Nine-and-a-half ranches in Texas.
04:24That's where the tariffs – so I know – I understand the question.
04:27The tariffs with these – this debate is happening right now, bringing them back.
04:33And if it lands, which I absolutely think it will, that's great for us.
04:45Let me – let me – let me – let me go to budget – let me go to budget reconciliation, and then we'll engage in questions, okay? And you can have –