In sharp contrast with traditional GOP policy on trade and its embrace of laissez faire economics, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has defended the Trump administration for leveraging tariffs on close allies describing the measure as “standing up” for free trade.
“We are in the middle of a trade discussion. Nobody wants to be in a trade war. Nobody wins a trade war,” the California Republican said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“But we are standing up for the process of where we’re moving forward that we have fair trade.”
McCarthy pointed to trade imbalances even with America’s closest allies such as Canada.
“If you are talking about Canada, look what they do when it comes to our dairy products,” he said. “Our wine cannot sit on their supermarkets,” the congressman claimed.
However he abstained from characterizing the current situation as a “trade war” and said: “I disagree with trade wars. I don’t…