2020 presidential contender and Rep. Tim Ryan said Monday that imposing tariffs on China “needs to be part of a larger strategy” on trade, joining other Democrats who’ve criticized the Trump administration’s trade policies after talks with China broke down last week.
The U.S. should focus on boosting growth in electric vehicles, and invest in solar and wind power, among other industries, the Ohio Democrat said in an interview with PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff..
“This has to happen in the Oval Office and we’re not getting that kind of leadership. That’s how you beat China,” Ryan said.
Ryan said his focus on economic issues while representing northeast Ohio in Congress set him apart from the other 20-plus Democratic presidential candidates vying to take on President Donald Trump next year.
“I’ve been at the epicenter of de-industrialization” in the U.S, Ryan said, adding: “What makes me different is that I have that experience, but also that I’ve been thinking about” how to improve economic opportunity.
In the NewsHour interview, Ryan also touched on foreign policy, the environment and immigration. Here are some other highlights:
On the Green New Deal: Ryan has not signed onto the House Democrats’ Green New Deal legislation, but said he supported taking action on climate change. “I embrace a Green New Deal, I just think we have to have public-private partnerships if we’re going to get there. We have to align the environmental incentives with the financial incentives,” Ryan said.
On immigration: Ryan said he was in “lock-step with all progressives” on immigration issues, but argued that Americans also care about border security. “We have an opioid crisis in Ohio. People are dying left and right and we got to make sure those drugs don’t get into our country,” he said.
On food deserts and health care: Ryan introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to eliminate neighborhood blight, clean up communities and create a robust urban agriculture program. He said that he will “be proposing an Urban Marshall Plan for us to really get into these communities, big and small, to make sure that people do have access to fresh, healthy food.”
Ryan linked the issues to health care, calling the nation’s current health care system a “disease care system.”
“That’s how you ultimately fix the health care system: free up billions of dollars that we can invest back into our communities, into our research, into our long-term prosperity in the United States.”
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