'Squeeze China': Trump's Economic Crackdown Against China Endorsed by Democrats

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has lauded US President Donald trump's tough economic policy towards China, saying that the president was on the "right path".

US President Donald trump should continue putting economical pressure on China, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said.

During his interview on New York AM 970 radio, senior Democratic Senator Charles Schumer claimed that Donald Trump was currently "on the right path, particularly with the intellectual property," in his relations with China.

The Senate Minority Leader claimed that China was not "helpful to the United States," adding that Beijing is "happy to see us in trouble". "… The way to get at them — what is the mother lode for China — is their trade with us," Schumer said, claiming that if US was to "squeeze China on trade," Washington might get some benefits in North Korea talks.

Schumer praised the US President’s policy towards Beijing: "I’m close to his view on trade, even though I don’t agree on how he did certain things…I’m closer to him on trade than I was to either Obama democrat or Bush republican, because we’ve got to get tougher with China," the senator said. "I’m hoping that that direction is the direction we move," Schumer concluded.

Trade relations between China and the United States have deteriorated recently, after Donald Trump signed an order to impose a 25-percent tariff on imported steel and a 10-percent tariff on imported aluminium in March. Later, the US President issued a memorandum introducing $60 billion in extra tariffs on China over intellectual property theft allegations.

China responded to the Washington's restrictive measures with introducing its own tariffs on goods produced in the United States. The governments of both countries have threatened each other with implementing further restrictions. In April, President Trump pitched an idea of introducing an additional $100 billion in tariff against Beijing in response to its "unfair retaliation." Also, US media reported previous week, that the US Trade Representative was considering opening an investigation which could lead to new trade restrictions against Chinese goods.