WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Banking Committees, today joined Mornings with Maria on Fox Business to discuss the significant consequences that would ensue if the Biden Administration were to lift tariffs on China and give up critical leverage needed to normalize our trade relations. The Senator also weighed in on the latest reports surrounding the Biden family’s corruption and the historic inflation hurting Americans created by the Biden Administration’s policies.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on the Biden Administration’s consideration of lifting China tariffs: “Again, it’s another misguided policy. If you think about what the Chinese Communist Party has seen with [President] Joe Biden, it’s been a gift from day one: re-entering the Paris Climate Accord; China laughs all the way to the bank on that. If you look at our energy policies here in America, just broadly speaking, it’s a huge benefit to China. Now they’re talking about lifting the only leverage that we’ve got in place right now to bring China to more normalized trade relations with us? Look, I was Ambassador to Japan, working hard on our trade deal with Japan at the same time Bob Lighthizer and his team was working on putting these tariffs in place on China. We didn’t have rampant inflation after the tariffs were installed, but we did have leverage. What the Biden Administration wants to do is give away that leverage and get nothing for it in return. I can understand why [U.S. Trade Representative] Katherine Tai, the current trade representative, doesn’t want to do this. It’s just another gimmick that the Biden Administration is pursuing. And again, a net benefit to China.”
Hagerty on establishment media’s refusal to cover Biden family corruption: “Look, it certainly appears that there is a massive crime syndicate underway within the Biden family. After three years of Russia, Russia, Russia, every channel that you turned on could talk about nothing but that. And now we had barely hear barely a word out of this Administration and hardly any coverage except for yourself, Maria, and a few others on this. It’s extremely concerning. And you’ve got Joe Biden again, making policy [that] could benefit China dramatically at the same time that it looks very obvious that his son, his family have taken millions of dollars from China in the process.”
Hagerty on what Republicans stand for: “It’s very easy. We’re running on a Strong America: bring our energy security back, bring inflation down, bring our borders back intact, protect the people here in America, make our nation stronger, and by doing that, we’ll make our allies stronger, we’ll make our adversaries a lot more concerned about the actions that they’re taking right now. It’s American strength that we’re running on. We have the most exceptional nation in the world. We should absolutely work to our advantage to make it clear to the rest of the world.”
Hagerty on the Biden Administration’s policies precipitating historic inflation: “The inflation is just rampant right now, and it’s so obvious what’s causing it: it’s the policies of the Biden Administration. Again, they brought about an absolute war on the fossil fuel industry here in America from the day they came into office. He criticizes [Vladimir] Putin on the one hand, then turns around and cancels a million-acre lease in Alaska, kills projects in the Gulf of Mexico. You can’t get a permit. You can’t do anything here in America because they’ve sent a very clear message to the capital markets: we’re not going to support the oil and gas industry here. But they’ll turn around and deal with [President Nicolás] Maduro and villains like that. They’ll allow, you know, Putin to have a massive windfall that he’s using to fund this war on Ukraine, all of this because of this blind pursuit of some energy policy that’s not working […] I think it’s very possible [layoffs are coming next] if the Biden Administration doesn’t wake up. As you said, the tin ear syndrome has got to go away, or they’re going to see this economy in the tank, and they’re going to see consequences in November.”
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