GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty says access to the U.S. economy is a 'privilege' amid Trump tariff threats
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., on Sunday said he is supportive of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on imports from a number of nations, including Canada and Mexico, pointing to the long history of the U.S. using trade as a “strategic tool” for decades.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., on Sunday said he is supportive of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on imports from a number of nations, including Canada and Mexico, pointing to the long history of the U.S. using trade as a “strategic tool” for decades.
“Access to our economy is a privilege,” Hagerty said during an interview with moderator Kristen Welker on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “If you think about it, we’ve made access to this economy a strategic tool ever since World War II.”
“Right now, the United States has the most open market of any major economy in the world. We need to take a very hard look at countries that don’t have our best interests at heart, countries that are allowing our borders to be violated, and use those tariffs as a tool to achieve our ends,” Hagerty added.
His comments come as Trump spent the last week announcing that he would seek to impose 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico and that he would impose 100% tariffs on imports from BRICS countries if they sought to create their own currency to trade in.
The threats prompted a flurry of reactions from world leaders, including a phone call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and a visit to Mar-a-Lago from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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