On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that there are some Democrats who are now abandoning progressive views on tariffs and he favors selective tariffs, not the broad ones put forward by President Donald Trump.
Host Bret Baier asked, [relevant exchange begins around 5:05] “[Y]ou have this tariff policy from President Trump. And it’s really interesting that some Democrats have now kind of abandoned the pro-progressive thing that they had before and they’re agreeing with The Wall Street Journal editorial page. Do you see that?”
Sanders answered, “Yeah. This is what I think: The idea to say oh, we believe in unfettered free trade, no tariffs — and some Democrats are saying that — I think that’s nonsense. The idea that you arbitrarily, one day come up with tariffs on every country on earth for no particular reason, which is going to raise prices in this country, that’s also absurd. Not only did I vote against NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China, I helped lead the effort against those. Those were disastrous trade agreements written by Corporate America, designed to allow corporations to shut down in America, move to China, move to Mexico, and hire people there at starvation wages. Very bad policy. So, I believe in selective tariffs to protect American workers. But the broad tariff proposals that Trump brought forth, that is not the way to proceed.”
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