{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Remarks by President Trump on Supporting America’s Farmers and Ranchers - China & Japan", "slug": "remarks-by-president-trump-on-supporting-americas-farmers-and-ranchers-china-japan", "text": "
\"THE PRESIDENT: Okay, well, thank you very much. Great honor to be here with some of the most incredible people in our country \u2014 people that have been with me from the beginning and I\u2019ve been with them from the absolute beginning. The relationship has been very good.<\/p>\n
So we\u2019re here with the vital action support for the American farmers: people that we love; people that have been going for a long time and they\u2019ve done really well, and they have ups and they have downs. It\u2019s a wild business, but you wouldn\u2019t trade it for anything. I know that, right? I know that, a hundred percent.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re grateful to be joined by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. Sonny, thank you very much. Sonny, great job. Come here.<\/p>\n
Thanks also to Representatives G.T. Thompson. Thank you. Thank you very much. Lloyd Smucker and Mike Conway. Thank you, fellas. Appreciate it very much. Been very helpful. Along with Missouri Agricultural Director Chris Chinn. Thank you, Chris. Great job.<\/p>\n
Also with us today are several of our nation\u2019s greatest farmers, including American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall. Zippy. Oh, Zippy has been so good to me. Thank you, Zippy. I appreciate it very much. Along with members of the farm groups representing producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, and pork.<\/p>\n
For years, our politicians have allowed other countries to steal our jobs, punish our workers, and target American industry and American agriculture. I can\u2019t say this is just the Democrats, but, in particular, the Democrats have done absolutely nothing about this.<\/p>\n
From the year 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization \u2014 which was, by the way, a disaster \u2014 until the year 2016, the United States lost more than 60,000 factories and millions and millions of jobs. China imposed massive barriers to American farm products \u2014 you people know that very well, right? \u2014 very well \u2014 and engaged in the theft of trade secrets from American agri-business.<\/p>\n
We racked up nearly $4 trillion in trade deficits in goods with China during those years. And the numbers are absolutely astounding \u2014 what\u2019s been happening over the last 10 years in particular. But you go back 30 years and you wouldn\u2019t even believe it.<\/p>\n
This was a massive transfer of wealth from the United States to China, financing China\u2019s infrastructure, commerce, technology, and military. And you\u2019ve heard me say it many, many times before: We helped rebuild China.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve also heard me say I don\u2019t blame the Chinese. I blame the people that were standing right here before me and their representatives to allow that to happen, to allow China to get along and be able to do that. And they did it like nobody else has ever done it before. And you know the United States has been taken advantage of for many years by many countries, but nobody has done it like China.<\/p>\n
To end these chronic trading abuses, my administration took necessary and very lawful action to protect America\u2019s economy, security, and farms. We\u2019re taking swift action to remedy all of the injustice that\u2019s been done over the years \u2014 in particular, you could say with our farmers. They\u2019re patriots. They stood up and they were with me. They didn\u2019t say, \u201cOh, you shouldn\u2019t do this because we\u2019re going to have a bad year.\u201d Because they\u2019ve had 20 bad years, if you really look. You take a look at those charts way back \u2014 longer than that. It\u2019s just been a steady spiral down.<\/p>\n
So we will ensure that our farmers get the relief they need and very, very quickly. It\u2019s a good time to be a farmer; we\u2019re going to make sure of that.<\/p>\n
So, today, I\u2019m announcing that I have directed Secretary Perdue to provide $16 billion in assistance to America\u2019s farmers and ranchers. It all comes from China. We\u2019ll be taking in, over a period of time, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and charges to China. And our farmers will be greatly helped. We want to get them back to the point where they would have had if they had a good year.<\/p>\n
This support for farmers will be paid for by the billions of dollars our Treasury takes in. We\u2019ll be taking in \u2014 depending on what period of time we\u2019re talking \u2014 many billions of dollars. Far more than the $16 billion that we\u2019re talking about. But the $16 billion in funds will help keep our cherished farms thriving and make clear that no country has veto on America\u2019s economic and national security. Can\u2019t let that happen ever.<\/p>\n
And if you remember, not so long ago, during the time of our negotiation \u2014 and China broke the deal with us, and that\u2019s okay. That\u2019s fine. But during that time of negotiation, if everyone remembers, we had periods where China would target our farms, right? They would actually target. They took a \u2014 an ad in a newspaper from Iowa \u2014 big ad \u2014 saying lots of bad things about the administration, about the fact that we\u2019re negotiating too tough; we\u2019re not going to make a deal.<\/p>\n
But they steal intellectual property by the billions. Somebody estimated it at $300 billion. Nobody knows how you estimate it but somebody does. They say $300 billion a year in theft \u2014 intellectual property theft. So we can\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n
Our economy is booming. Our nation is prospering. And now is the time to insist on fair and reciprocal trade for our workers and for our farmers.<\/p>\n
I remain hopeful that, at some point, we\u2019ll probably get together with China. If it happens, great. If it doesn\u2019t happen, that\u2019s fine. That\u2019s absolutely fine. And I look forward \u2014 I\u2019ll be seeing President Xi at the G20, very shortly. Many of you are going to be there, many of the media present \u2014 you\u2019ll be at the meeting. And we look forward to that.<\/p>\n
But in the meantime \u2014 and maybe for a long time \u2014 I appreciate the incredible bipartisan support that my administration has had on trade and trade policy, especially as it pertains to placing very massive tariffs on China. And just so you understand: These tariffs are paid for largely by China. A lot of people like to say by \u201cus.\u201d In fact, Larry Kudlow was quoted but they didn\u2019t have the second part of his quote, which was a very good quote. China subsidizes a lot of businesses. And China came out, and, in subsidizing the business, they pay for a big portion of that tax.<\/p>\n
But right now, a lot of companies are moving out of China because of the tax. They\u2019re moving to non-tariffed countries. So it\u2019s a bad thing for China. We don\u2019t want that, but that\u2019s just the way it works out.<\/p>\n
But we\u2019re taking in tremendous amounts of tariffs. And you don\u2019t have to pay, by the way, tariffs for companies when they move into the United States. You move to the United States; it\u2019s very simple business: There are no tariffs to pay. And many companies are already plan \u2014 and planning to move back to the United States, or to move to the United States for the first time so they don\u2019t have to pay the 25 percent tariff. But they\u2019re moving to Vietnam; they\u2019re moving to other places. But we\u2019ll get plenty of them.<\/p>\n
Our country must maintain a united front to achieve maximum results for our people. Very simple. For years, farm income has declined. And we\u2019re talking about many years. This year, however \u2014 and I was a little surprised to see this because I know that there\u2019s been really a trade attack on our great farmers. Net farm income, because our economy is doing so well, is forecast to be nearly $8 billion higher than in 2016. Did you know that? You\u2019re doing better than you were doing in 2016. Nobody told me that. But that\u2019s because our economy has been so strong. Our economy is about as good as it\u2019s ever been, maybe better than it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n
And the agricultural exports are expected to be $10 billion more than in 2016. It\u2019s not bad. You\u2019ve done a good job. Huh? We both have. We all have. The farmers have.<\/p>\n
So we\u2019re fixing broken trade deals to open up markets for American exports, including with the brand new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an agreement that the Democrats in Congress, many are supporting, I must say. They\u2019ve told us they\u2019re supporting it regardless of leadership. I don\u2019t think Nancy Pelosi understands the deal. It\u2019s too complicated. But it\u2019s not a complicated deal. It\u2019s actually not a complicated deal.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a deal that\u2019s going to be many, many times better than NAFTA. I consider NAFTA to be one of the worst trade deals ever made in the history of our country. I think the World Trade Organization, Larry Kudlow, may be even worse. It may be even worse because of what it\u2019s done with respect to trade and international trade, and trade with China \u2014 what it\u2019s done for China and how much money our country has been losing to China every year. So, World Trade Organization has been really bad, but the NAFTA has been one of \u2014 one of the worst deals ever made in trade.<\/p>\n
Just last week, we reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico to lift major tariffs on American agriculture, and we opened up the beef exports with Japan. Did you know that? Right? That\u2019s a big deal. So we opened it up with Japan. First time ever. So, beef is now going to be starting to flow to Japan. And our folks that do beef, they are very much happy. They were shocked to see that one, but it\u2019s happening. It\u2019s happening fast.<\/p>\n
And I think things, probably, are going to happen with China fast because I can\u2019t imagine that they can be thrilled with thousands of companies leaving their shores for other places.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re saving our farmers and ranchers from ridiculous regulations also, and we\u2019re \u2014 as of next week, we\u2019re signing some additional voiding of some really dumb regulations, Sonny, that will make farming a lot easier, a lot better. And one of the regulations we did, Waters of the United States rule \u2014 it sounds beautiful, but once you open the document, it\u2019s a total catastrophe. And you know that better than anybody. I got rid of it. I terminated it. It\u2019s got a beautiful title. Everything inside is a disaster for our farmers and, actually, for our country.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re ensuring that ethanol remains a vital part of America\u2019s energy future, and we increased it to E15. And that\u2019s tremendous for, in particular, for the most part, our corn farmers, for corn. And the people in Iowa and lots of other places are very happy. I just did it recently, and I made a promise during the campaign that I was going to do it. And I don\u2019t know if it had an impact, but I won Iowa by a lot. And perhaps it did; perhaps it didn\u2019t. I don\u2019t really care. It\u2019s the right thing to do. So you\u2019re going to be at E15, which is something, I think, you\u2019ve been waiting for, for a long time.<\/p>\n
And we\u2019re going to also make that available year around. They had it for a period of eight months; now we\u2019re going to make year around. That was a ridiculous rule.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re fighting for rural broadband, improving rural healthcare, and bringing new prosperity to distressed rural communities through Opportunity Zones. Opportunity Zones \u2014 Tim Scott and I and others have worked so hard on Opportunity Zones. They\u2019re really working, far greater than anyone thought, including me.<\/p>\n
People are coming in, they\u2019re investing large amounts of money in places that they would have never invested before \u2014 inner-city locations and others. And it\u2019s been incredible. It\u2019s one of the reasons our African American unemployment is the lowest ever. Hispanic, Asian, the lowest ever. We have the lowest unemployment rates ever.<\/p>\n
And we have today \u2014 literally today \u2014 I just saw another report; it\u2019s been this way for a while \u2014 the most people working in the history of our country, working today. So that\u2019s really great.<\/p>\n
Mike, I mean, if you look at that, that\u2019s pretty good news, right?<\/p>\n
So our nation will always be proud of the unmatched grit and faith and skill of the American farmer. It\u2019s my honor to do what we did. I want to thank Sonny Perdue and all of the people that worked so hard on getting this done. It\u2019s being implemented right now. Billions of dollars is already flowing into our treasury that we never saw before. We never saw 10 cents from China. China didn\u2019t give us anything. Now they\u2019re giving us billions. And some of that money is going to go to the farmers to help them out during a period where trade has been very unfair to them.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019m very honored to have done this for you. And I don\u2019t consider it a gift at all. It\u2019s not a gift.<\/p>\n
You know, in one of the meetings, I talk about it. I\u2019ve never seen anything like it. About six months ago, I was with the American farmer, and I had about 25 of them in the Cabinet Room. And I said, \u201cWell, you know, maybe what we can do during the trade\u201d \u2014 this was in the midst of a big portion of trade with China. In the meantime, China agreed to buy a tremendous amount of soybeans. But this was before that. And they were really going, and they were \u2014 as I said, they were advertising and doing a lot of negative things to our farmer. [...]<\/p>
Q Mr. President, why should importers\u2019 money go to American farmers?<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Because the American farmers have been used as a vehicle for China to try and hurt our country \u2014<\/p>\n
Q But you\u2019ll (inaudible)?<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: \u2014 and they\u2019ve been very brave.<\/p>\n
No, they \u2014 in particular, the farmer. They\u2019ve been very, very brave. They\u2019ve been very patriotic. But China has openly stated they\u2019re going to use the farmer. The reason is because I got the farmer\u2019s votes. You look at a map; it\u2019s all red, meaning Republican, meaning Trump. It\u2019s all red in the middle states, as you know. It\u2019s got a little blue here and a little blue there.<\/p>\n
So farmer \u2014 so if you look at \u2014 I guess, China is probably \u2014 they\u2019re definitely a smart player. They went out and they said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to attack the farmers.\u201d Then they did. And the farmer said, \u201cYou know, what? We\u2019re with our President.\u201d<\/p>\n
I never heard \u2014 even on some of the networks and cable channels that are negative, I\u2019ve never heard anybody, any of the farmers speak badly. They said, \u201cYou know, the\u2026\u201d \u2014 you told me that, Mike \u2014 \u201c\u2026the President has \u2014 he\u2019s doing the right thing.\u201d They\u2019ve been unfair to this country \u2014 and they\u2019re not talking about farm; they\u2019re talking about everything.<\/p>\n
Q How long are you willing to do it?<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: China has been unfair to this country for many, many years. Finally, we have somebody that\u2019s fighting back \u2014 and, by the way, successfully fighting back. We\u2019re talking about hundreds of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019ve never had a farmer come out and say, \u201cYou know, I\u2019m not doing that well.\u201d They say, \u201cJust go and do it.\u201d You\u2019re going to end up better \u2014 much better in the end.<\/p>\n
And again, if you look \u2014 go back 20 years, the farms have come down; the prices have been coming down for many, many years \u2014 long before I ever thought about doing this. So we\u2019re going to be very successful.<\/p>\n
But in the meantime, they have been attacked. The farmers have been attacked by China. And all I\u2019m doing is helping them get that beautiful, flat, nice, level playing field. Right? [...]<\/p>
Q Can you get a trade deal with Japan relatively soon, do you think?<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I\u2019m going to meet with Japan, as you know. I\u2019m going there on Friday. Many of you are going to be coming with us. And it\u2019s a very big thing going on with the Emperor. It\u2019s something that hasn\u2019t happened in over 200 years. I am the guest, meaning the United States is the guest.<\/p>\n
But Prime Minister Abe said to me, very specifically, \u201cYou are the guest of honor.\u201d There\u2019s only one guest of honor. \u201cYou are the guest honor,\u201d as I represent the country. With all the countries of the world, I\u2019m the guest of honor at the biggest event that they\u2019ve had in over 200 years.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s a great thing. And we get along very well with Japan. I get along very well with the Prime Minister. So we\u2019re going to be spending two days over there. [...]<\/p>
Q Mr. President, you mentioned China a few times today. Given the tension now \u2014 not only over trade, but over Huawei and technology \u2014 what likelihood is there that there will be a trade deal in the next two months?<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Well, there\u2019s a possibility. I think probably a good possibility. I don\u2019t know how China can do this. Because I\u2019ll be honest: We\u2019re getting hundreds of billions of dollars brought into our country. We\u2019ve never gotten 10 cents. We\u2019re getting hundreds of billions of dollars coming into our country.<\/p>\n
Q But American companies are paying.<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: And I\u2019m helping the farmers.<\/p>\n
Q Right? American companies are paying.<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: But you know what? That help is a very temporary help because they\u2019ll pay it back a hundred times over \u2014 they will \u2014 with what they do, with the importance of what they do.<\/p>\n
But Huawei is something that\u2019s very dangerous. You look at what they\u2019ve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint. It\u2019s very dangerous. So it\u2019s possible that Huawei even would be included in some kind of a trade deal. If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form of or some part of a trade deal.<\/p>\n
Q How would that look?<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: It would look very good for us.<\/p>\n
Q The Huawei part, how would you design that?<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, it\u2019s too early to say. But, I mean, we\u2019re just very concerned about Huawei, from a security standpoint right now.\"<\/p>", "quote": null, "citation": "