United States Senator Chuck Grassley gives his thoughts on the escalation of trades between China and the U.S.

Grassley, an Iowa native, calls himself a free trader and points out that the U.S. exports a lot of services and manufacturing out of China. He also notes that the profitability of agriculture leads to an even more important point of having free trade. Grassley believes that tariffs interfere with free trade and that China doesn’t follow the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, which Grassley explains that he tried to previously help them become a member of the WTO.

“One time I voted that they become a member. I think I was supposed to kick them out of the World Trade Organization because they aren’t living by these rules. Their economy is very much in trouble, and they have a strong manufacturing base. So they’re spending a lot of government money, subsidizing their manufacturing and flooding it around the world.”

Grassley identifies that by doing this leads to a defensive mindset of putting tariffs on, and he thinks that it’s bad for the economy, but illustrates that China is attempting to become the number one economy in the world.