Freedom Partners, a conservative activist group partially funded by the Charles and David Koch, urged the White House Friday to abandon its planned $200 billion in tariffs against China, which the Trump administration is set to impose next week.
“The costs of this trade war are mounting on our consumers and businesses,” said Freedom Partners Executive Vice President Nathan Nascimento. “Just ask the farmers who are losing profits and market share. Washington imposes tariffs with one hand, while offering government aid with the other.”
“Yet the administration appears already committed to inflict even more pain, before the public debate has concluded,” he added. “It’s like a judge declaring a guilty verdict in the middle of a trial.”
[Related: Trump says China wants trade deal, but it’s ‘not the right time’]
Bloomberg reported Thursday that the administration is planning to impose the $200 billion in tariffs once the public comment on the proposal is concluded at the end of next week, citing several anonymous sources within the administration. That would set the total amount of tariffs that the Trump administration has hit China with at $250 billion. Administration spokespeople have not responded to requests for comment or disputed the story.
Beijing has responded to the administration’s earlier tariffs by placing their own tariffs of between 5-25 percent on $60 billion worth of U.S goods. Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun said that his country plans additional responses.
Charles and David Koch, heads of Koch Industries and prominent funders of conservative causes, are long-time supporters of free trade policies and have repeatedly pushed back against the administration’s aggressive use of tariffs. Other conservative and pro-business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Club for Growth have also opposed the tariffs, arguing that trade wars do more harm than good.
The Trump White House has argued that the tariffs are necessary to counter China’s trade practices, which they have described as predatory. President Trump and other officials have nevertheless conceded that they do not expect the tariffs to bring China to the negotiating table anytime soon, suggesting the economic impact of the tariffs will be felt for a long time.
