Ron Wyden Quotes

Too many countries that do not play by the free trade rules of the World Trade Organization - including, notably mercantilist China and monopolist Saudi Arabia - have been allowed in, to the detriment of both the WTO and the liberal trading environment it is supposed to sponsor.

A trade war is a conflict in which each side uses most of its ammunition to shoot itself in the foot.

Protectionism has to be avoided. Protectionism is not only on goods but also in the area of services. Financial protectionism is also bad and should be avoided.

Unfair foreign trade practices are not isolated acts.

A trade war would be a disaster for the world. It's very easy to slip into a trade war.

Consider trade protectionism. It's been tried - and found wanting - since the Great Depression.

The E.U., China, and Japan all talk free trade, and they all practice protectionism.

We all know that China is not a free trader. That's the reality.

The United States can't keep a completely open system if the rest of the world is less open. The United States may have to take a leaf out of the book of Japan, China, and Germany, and have protectionism inside the system.

As history has repeatedly proven, one trade tariff begets another, then another - until you've got a full-blown trade war. No one ever wins, and consumers always get screwed.

If the United States wants access to Chinese, Indian or Vietnamese markets, we must get access to theirs. U.S. protectionism is very subtle but it is very much there.

That foreign trade should be fair rather than free.

Most future wars will be conflicts for commerce.

The British government should use every kind of cheating that other governments use to promote their products.

Our nation has moved from the cold war to the trade war.

Whenever Canada moves to protect its own industries and people, it is subjected to violent attacks in the U.S. Congress and to threats of economic retaliation.

A trade war between the U.S. and China would hurt both countries, but there is reason to believe that the U.S. has more to lose. Today, 80% of global trade comprises international supply chains,” she writes. “Declining trade costs have allowed firms to splinter their production lines geographically, with goods processed and value added in multiple countries along the chain. If China threw a handful of sand in the gears of these chains, it could disrupt entire production networks, doing serious damage to the U.S….

China is the most protectionist country of the very large countries. They talk more about free trade than they actually practice.

We're already in a trade war with China. The problem is we've not been fighting back. Trump, through tariffs, wants to call a truce.

Trade wars in which countries are then obliged to retaliate by raising their own tariffs against the initiator undermine growth and hurt consumers. Far from being expressions of strength they highlight the failure of the initiating country's economic sector to compete in the global market place.

Inward-looking unilateral trade policies invite retaliation.

I would tell China that if you don't straighten out your manipulation of the currency - and I mean fast; I mean really fast - we are going to tax your products 25%.

Tariffs are in the end taxes. And somebody has to pay that tax. I think one thing people are forgetting is that trade disputes are two-sided. When the United States imposes tariffs on a partner like Canada, there is always a possibility that Canada will say that's not fair and retaliate. And at that point, you have to ask the question, - which U.S. industry will suffer because the Canadians retaliated against it?

China is crippling our manufacturing economy and eliminating our jobs by illegally flooding our markets.

As President Obama clearly said just a few months ago, China must play by the international rules, the international trading system from which they've benefited so much.