Trump Is Right to Tariff Chinese Goods [OPINION]

China has been dishonest in many areas of the trade agreement we signed with them, and President Trump is about to do something about it. Since no other administration has dared to, the political adversaries and the mainstream media seem to be looking at this as an opportunity.

Instead of siding with America, former Vice President and Democrat candidate for President Joe Biden has offered a rather neutral and disarming statement toward China's trade practices. Biden said, "Come on man. China is going to eat our lunch?" Adding later in his speech, "They’re not bad folks, folks, but guess what. They’re not competition for us.”

China isn't competition? Has anyone looked at where household and office items are made over the last 20 years?

Biden has a serious issue to contend with when it comes to China, though.

In 2013, while Vice President of the United States, Biden and his son Hunter flew over to China for "negotiations between the two states." Within two weeks, Hunter Biden's firm had secured a private equity deal, subsidized by the Chi-Com government's Bank of China.

As the New York Post put it, "The Chinese government funded a business that it co-owned along with the son of a sitting vice president."

Nothing to see here?

Dr. Peter Navarro, Director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, laid out just how China cheats and breaks their own trade promises with us:

1. They put high tariffs on certain American goods that are not supposed to exist. They also have these deceptive non-tariff barriers and constantly change their regulations so that American goods trying to enter the market, either find themselves out of regulations or having to pay a fee or fine for not meeting these constantly evolving rules, once en route to China or in port.
2. They illegally subsidize their products to help keep costs so low that foreign competitors can't possibly match the prices.
3. They prey on weak nations with what Dr. Navarro calls debt traps. "China uses a predatory "debt trap" of economic development and finance that proffers to developing countries in exchange for an encumbrance on their natural resources and access to markets. These resources range from bauxite, copper, and nickel to rarer commodities such as beryllium, titanium and rare earth minerals. This predatory model has been particularly effective in countries characterized by weak rule of law and authoritarian regimes," he said.

In other words, the Chinese lend money to nations typically led by leaders with weak balances of power to hold them accountable. These are also targeted nations with particular natural resources with one or more of the above earth minerals. China lures these nations into borrowing so much money that they then pressure these nations to not sell their own resources to the rest of the world, so that China corners the market instead.

President Trump is holding them accountable. There is no easy fix here. China will talk tough and we may feel a pinch in some areas for a while, farming, automobile and tech in particular, but China will bend. They know the math. America possesses 28 cents of every dollar in the world. I doubt China would throw a wrench in the gears of this cash cow for very long.

President Trump is negotiating from a point of leverage. He is morally right to do this. He is legally right to do this. So where were the other presidents when this was happening? The others turned their back despite the growing trade deficit which now finds the United States owing China some $1.4 trillion.

The most painful part of a much-needed surgery is the period of healing following the procedure. America very badly needed to take this course of action. I cannot understand anyone calling themselves a patriot, but who opposes this stand the president is making.

They either have personal gains to make, as Biden and others have (with no audacity by the media), or they are in a market affected the most by the escalating trade war between the two nations.

The rest? Write them off as parrots of the propaganda or globalists who don't seem to want to side with their own country and then never forget who they are, especially those seeking office.

Thank you, President Trump, for standing up to these communist thieves in Beijing. Support your president—not for him, but for the future of your nation's economy.

Ken Pittman is the host of The Ken Pittman Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Contact him at ken.pittman@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @RadioKenPittman. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.