GOP challengers Bill Weld and Joe Walsh slam Trump on trade war with China

Joseph Zeballos-Roig
Updated
GOP DEBATE
GOP DEBATE

Crystal Cox/Business Insider

  • The GOP primary challengers Joe Walsh and Bill Weld slammed President Donald Trump's handling of the economy — and particularly his trade war with China — on Tuesday at Business Insider's debate.

  • "Mr. Trump thinks that when he slaps a tariff on China, it's paid by China back in Beijing," Weld said. "It's not — it's paid for by American farmers or American businesses or individuals who need to import something from China that contains steel or aluminum, and everyone knows it."

  • "The uncertainty, the hour-by-hour 'where is this president going?' has everybody in the business community on edge," Walsh said.

  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Two of President Donald Trump's 2020 Republican primary challengers slammed his handling of the economy — and particularly his trade war with China — on Tuesday night at Business Insider's GOP debate.

"Mr. Trump thinks that when he slaps a tariff on China, it's paid by China back in Beijing," former Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts said. "It's not — it's paid for by American farmers or American businesses or individuals who need to import something from China that contains steel or aluminum, and everyone knows it." He backed the idea of free trade.

Former Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois echoed that criticism, blasting Trump's erratic economic policy as damaging to the nation's economy.

Read more: Trump ramps up his criticisms of China's trade policies as tariff escalations loom

"The uncertainty, the hour-by-hour 'where is this president going?' has everybody in the business community on edge," Walsh said. "They're not investing, they're not hiring. This is where your slowdown is coming from."

Walsh said he would undo the tariffs that Trump had levied on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods, which have fueled fears of a global recession and led American businesses to pull back on hiring.

The National Foundation for American Policy has estimated that the tariffs applied through 2019 — including scheduled ones that have not yet taken effect — would cost American households $2,031 a year.

Trump has showed no signs of backing down from his confrontation with the world's second-largest economy. At the United Nations on Tuesday, he said, "I will not accept a bad deal for the American people."

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