On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) stated that he agrees with tariffs going after China, but “I do not share that view that the other countries are a problem.” And specifically cited the “strong relationship” Texas has with Mexico and Canada.
Sessions said, “[T]he message that I have and do hold on to is that I felt like that China was the effort, not the other countries that were involved, not Mexico, not Canada, that we have a problem with China. China, as we all know, has taken advantage of the importation where something under $800 a package of total cost is not looked at. And we receive millions of those packages. And, because of that exclusion, it is seen as a gateway for bringing fentanyl into this country. On the other side, the intellectual property issue, it is very apparent that major businesses and those who develop intellectual property understand that there are goods and services, [such] as, for instance, a…saw that would go for $400 here goes for, if it’s imported into the country, $40. That’s a theft of intellectual property. It’s a theft of the work that went into that saw. And they simply took the saw, re-did it, used state money to influence its outcome, and then undercut the American market. That is the problem that we have with China.”
He continued, “I do not share that view that the other countries are a problem. I think I indicated that. I had a problem, in particular, because of Texas and Mexico and Texas and Canada with a strong relationship. And so, those were my evaluations. I still stand on the side, the President, rightfully, has gone at China because they steal intellectual property, undercut our prices, and sent things back into the country re-done. And I am very proud of the President doing that. And I think that the marketplace is responding accordingly now. And I saw where we added — as the world did — we added 177,000 private sector jobs [because] people who now believe that they can move forward selling their products with their own intellectual property and rule of law.”
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