Former President Donald Trump reshaped U.S. trade policy with his impact on manufacturing and fair-trade practices, said Republican candidate Dave McCormick, who is looking to unseat Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.
Newsmax's Rob Astorino interviewed him at his home in Pittsburgh, which aired on Newsmax's "Saturday Agenda."
"For 20 years, we had, I think, a misguided policy when we talked about free trade; we weren't strategic about it. I think President Trump's done a great service to the country, and I agree with him 100% on two things," McCormick said.
"Number one, there's certain industries that have to be here in the United States. We learned about that during COVID.
"We saw the pharmaceutical industry was offshore. We were dependent on China for pharmaceuticals in times of crisis. Semiconductors — you couldn't get a new pickup truck because we couldn't get semiconductors in the United States," he continued.
"So there are certain industries we have to have here at home that's great for Pennsylvania, great for our manufacturing base. There's just key industries that need to be here."
McCormick said for too long, other countries imposed tariffs and other barriers, making trade unfair for the American worker.
"We have to have reciprocity, which means we get a fair deal," he said. "So what's happened over the last 25, 30 years is the rest of the world, particularly China, has been unfair to the American worker — unfair because there's been tariffs on their side, unfair because of non-tariff barriers blocking U.S. products getting into their markets, unfair because they've been stealing intellectual property.
"And what President Trump said was, 'We want a fair deal.' It's going to be great for our economy, great for jobs here in Pennsylvania," he said.
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