Steve Moore Says China Tariff War Will Show US ‘Who Our Allies Really Are’

Economist Steve Moore said Wednesday evening on “Hannity” that President Donald Trump’s tariff war with China will show the U.S. “who our allies really are.”

Trump announced Wednesday he would place a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs — excluding China — after implementing them April 2, hitting a handful of countries with the tax charge. Fox host Sean Hannity highlighted how the stock market rose Wednesday. Moore said he couldn’t “stop smiling” before admitting he originally doubted Trump’s plan.

“I’m going to confess to your audience, I was a ‘doubting Thomas’ myself,” Moore said. “I didn’t know whether this strategy would work. I didn’t know whether Trump could really pull this off. But boy has he,” Moore said.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done, Sean. We have to now work with all of our trading partners to get every single one of them to reduce their tariffs and their unfair trade restraints on America. So there’s a lot of work to be done here. But Trump is in the driver’s seat right now,” Moore added.

In Trump’s original “Liberation Day” announcement, the president said countries would be hit with reciprocal tariffs, with some charged at higher rates based on their own tariffs against the U.S. As for China, it was initially hit with a 34% tariff on April 2. By Tuesday, however, it rose to 104% due to China not lifting a retaliatory tariff. (RELATED: Wall Street Giant Suddenly Changes Tune On Recession Forecast After Trump’s Tariff Pause)

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Moore went on to say that with China’s ongoing “contest” against the U.S., allies — including European countries — will now be forced to make a choice between the two nations.

“The other big point I would like to make is you’re exactly right. This is a USA versus China contest. We’re going to really learn over the next couple of weeks, another couple of months, Sean, who our allies really are. Because there was a point where some of these European countries say ‘Well, maybe we’ll just go trade with China,’” Moore said.

“No, you’ve got to choose Europe. You’ve got to choose Japan. You’ve got to choose. Are you with us? Are you with China? That’ll be really interesting to see if they choose wrongly. I think there’s going to be a high price to be paid,” Moore added. “But we’ve got a lot of work to do on the trade front, still. I think at the end of the day — I said this three weeks ago on your show, and I’ll say it again — I think we’re going to have freer and fairer trade, and that works for America.

By Wednesday, China retaliated once more in response to the 104% tariff, raising its tariff against the U.S. to 84%. Just hours after China’s announcement, Trump declared that China would be hit with an increased tariff of 125%.

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