China on Friday announced a new series of tariffs against the United States as part of the ongoing trade war between the two nations.
In response to the approximately $75 billion hit, President Donald Trump tweeted.
Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
In his declaration, Trump demanded that U.S. companies stop working with and look for alternatives to using China as a supplier and manufacturer, which is not in his authority. The president can’t tell private companies what to do over Twitter. That’s what laws and executive orders are for.
….better off without them. The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
Then Trump ordered all mail services to stop bringing in fentanyl to the U.S. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is much stronger than heroin, has helped worsen the opioid crisis, as many drugs are cut with it, and it can lead to unexpected overdoses and deaths.
Trump noted in his tweets that fentanyl has contributed to 100,000 deaths a year.
….all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop – it didn’t. Our Economy, because of our gains in the last 2 1/2 years, is MUCH larger than that of China. We will keep it that way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
“I am ordering all carriers, including Fed Ex, Amazon, UPS and the Post Office, to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE,…. ….all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year,” he wrote.
In fairness to the president and his Twitter feed, the Washington Post published an inside look at how fentanyl dealers are able to mail product.
They prefer to use the United States Postal Service, which has laxer tracking protocols than private companies. But much like his tweet demanding companies stop working with China, he can’t affect change this way either.
Just because the president said so doesn’t mean companies weren’t already searching for drugs that come in.
And that’s not even to mention that the government takes the lead in stopping drugs from being imported.
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