As part of a speech yesterday called "A Declaration of Economic Independence," Ron DeSantis had the following comments on China trade issues:
So the elites in this country have failed. Time and again, they've imposed policies that have proven short sighted and have proven counterproductive. And just look back a quarter of a century ago with what we were told would happen with China. They said if you granted China special trading status and put them in the World Trade Organization, that China would become more democratic, that it would guard against forced transfers of technology, that you wouldn't have a mass relocation of American manufacturing to China, and that we would be safeguarded against surges of Chinese imports. What actually happened over these past 25 years, China has become more authoritarian, more powerful and more ambitious. We've seen our relationship marred by the theft of our intellectual property, trade dumping, currency manipulation, and espionage. Our industrial base here in the United States has hollowed out. We've developed a dangerous dependence on Chinese supply chains, and our companies have been exposed to a hostile security apparatus. The elite sold us a bill of goods when it came to China. They were wrong and we need to get it right.
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We have to restore the economic sovereignty of this country and take back control of our economy from China. The abusive relationship, the asymmetric relationship between our two countries must come to an end. No more massive trade deficits, no more importing of goods with stolen intellectual property, no more preferential trade status. We need to incentivize the repatriation of American capital and investment here in the United States so we can recapture our supply chains and build a strong durable industrial base. And in Florida, we've actually taken action against the CCP. We have banned the purchase of land in Florida by members of the Chinese Communist Party or its affiliates.
In response to questions after the speech, DeSantis had this exchange:
Question:
I'm just curious. So you spoke about electric vehicles. You announced your presidential run with Elon Musk. Do you have a problem with the business he's doing in China? Can you talk a little bit about that?
DeSantis:
Well, look, I think that if you ask him, I think he's acknowledged that we need to do more of the rare earth minerals here in the United States, or at least in countries that are not as adverse to us. So I certainly recognize that and I think that that's something that our China policy is going to look to address. That will take time. That's not going to happen tomorrow, but we got to do that. In the meantime, forcing people to do the EVs, you know, I think is a big mistake. First of all, a lot of Americans, they just don't want it. And I think that Tesla creates really good product. It's not necessarily something that I would be able to afford or would want, but I get [that] people like it, but to make the Fords and the GMs do all this for electric, you are not going to see the demand for that.
DeSantis is repeating a lot of his earlier comments on China trade here. I hope that at some point the GOP presidential candidates are pressed to offer some details about their overall trade policy plans.
