The “biggest message” from President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy toward Mexico was actually directed toward China, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Sunday.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Blunt said Trump has always believed tariffs should be in the nation’s “arsenal.”
“I think the biggest message here is not to Mexico but to China — that the president is clearly willing to use tariffs, and actually the president believes that tariffs are a significant positive economic tool,” he said, adding that he doesn’t agree.
Blunt also said he hopes Congress will move quickly to deal with another “humanitarian crisis” and approve $2.8 billion in funding to care for unaccompanied children who’ve entered the United States — 88,000 of whom came this year alone.
“These are not kids who have been separated from their parents,” he said. “These are kids who are under 18 who came on their own, about 30 percent of them are under 12 or so…they get here on their own. “
“When they think about this, surely they understand you can't let 12 and 13 and 14-year-old boys and girls, you can't say, ‘okay we don't have anyplace to go with you and it is illegal to return you back to your home country, we will just let you loose in the United States and you show up at some future time.’”
The $2.8 billion will go to the Department of Health and Human Services “for sole purpose of taking care of these kids who are here by themselves and we need to deal with that.”
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