As the new Administration prepares to take over next month, President-elect Trump has warned China will be in the crosshairs. Incoming Senate leader John Thune says China is a threat to trade but warns they are not the only ones.
“We’ll be looking at policies that we think make sense in terms of promoting US competitiveness globally, and if necessary, remedy some of the bad behavior of the Chinese. One of the things that President Trump and his team, as they take office, are going to be talking about, is how China cheats on trade agreements. And I think we have to be looking at the world today, in a very clear-eyed way through a lens that understands that there are lots of threats out there.”
Currently, there is legislation in the works to end permanent normal trade relations with China. Sponsors of the bill say the Chinese communist party has stolen trillions of dollars worth of U.S. intellectual property since 2000. In Nebraska, Farm Bureau leaders say they will keep pushing for more overseas trade.
“I think that we as an organization continue to be a very pro-free trade organization and continue to call balls and strikes with any administration, and on the trade front, we hope that we get some action on trade compared to the last four years where we haven’t seen a whole lot of anything. A lot of the tariff policy was quietly continued, and we didn’t see a whole lot happening and no work on expanding markets. The first president in a very long time did not ask for assistance or the ability to negotiate free trade agreements. That’s problematic. President Trump is going to be very active on this front, and I think there’s going to be some things we’ll agree with and some things we won’t,” said Jordan Dux.
A new Administration means new people and priorities. Dux says he is watching for several items this year.
“Some of the things the president wants to tackle are that we have to extend the tax cuts and jobs act before the end of the year in 2025. That’s a big deal. That is individual income tax rates, that is estate taxes, that is section 179 small business expensing, bonus depreciation, massive things that we were able to get back in 2017 that, again, if Congress does nothing, are all set to expire this year. And so that’ll be a very large topic of conversation. It’s going to happen very, very quickly.”
Tomorrow afternoon, there will be a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee. Lawmakers will take a closer look at trade and how a potential trade war could impact prices here at home.
