Trump to sign executive orders targeting trade abuses
- by Constance Griffith
- in Money
- — Apr 3, 2017
In remarks at the Oval Office, Trump said he had seen the situation first-hand as he traveled the country and found how bad trade deals had hurt American workers.
He signed a pair of executive orders aimed at identifying and targeting foreign trade abuses. The president signed the orders out of sight of the media, CNN reported.
All of this, ahead of the Xi-Trump Summit next week.
US President Donald Trump walked out of an executive order signing ceremony at the White House, without actually signing the orders, forcing his deputy Mike Pence to chase him.
Pence went back to the president's desk and collected the executive orders under his arm. He started walking away, and when a reporter asked him a question about the ongoing saga of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, he kept walking.
Flynn has offered to testify about his Russian contacts in hearings before the House and Senate intelligence committees - but only if he were granted immunity, which hasn't been granted.
Both Ross and Navarro also made clear that both executive orders would tackle the sources of the US' trade deficit with China, which Trump argues has led to the loss of millions of USA jobs and the decline of United States manufacturing. He spoke very positively about what he was going to sign. "Thank you very much".
This is not the first time Trump is walking out on people at a crucial event.
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Peter Navarro, director of the White House National Trade Council, told FOX Business Friday the White House intends to look into all of the ways the U.S.is being taken advantage of in the global economy.
Democratic Ohio members of Congress who have called for a tougher stance on trade said Trump's actions are inadequate.
In a second executive order Trump asked the government to better recover trade duties on products that are subsidized by foreign governments or dumped on the U.S. market.
The findings of the examination will be used to take "necessary and lawful action to end those many abuses", Trump said. "From now on, those who break the rules will face the consequences, and they'll be very severe consequences".
For example, an iPhone assembled in China is regarded as a Chinese export - but the money Apple makes from it is accounted for in the USA - contributing to the economy.
'We're gonna get this thing straightened out.
Pointing to his economic team, Trump declared: 'This combination over here can't be beaten'. He is confident that the Commerce Secretary would do a fantastic job. I'm not beholden to any political or financial interest.
Furthermore, the President said the "well-being of America and the American worker is my north star".
