President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on some Chinese imports came after the country has engaged in dishonest trade practices and theft of American intellectual property, Corey Lewandowski wrote in an opinion piece.
In his story for The Hill, the former Trump campaign manager made the case that Trump is simply trying to right the wrongs that China has committed over the years.
"For years, Chinese companies have hacked, cheated, and robbed American companies, luring them across the Pacific with promises of market access and low operating costs, only to betray those promises by turning around and stealing the American firms' intellectual property (IP)," Lewandowski wrote.
"The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property estimates that IP theft costs our country at least $225 billion, and up to $600 billion, every year.
"American presidents and Congress have sat idly by."
Lewandowski then described how China has stolen U.S. and European companies' secrets, which has resulted in the U.S. losing "the edge in national self-defense."
Lewandowski concluded by saying that Trump is trying to restore order to global trading with his tariffs.
"The only way to restore order in trade agreements is to fight back when a country is cheating," he wrote. "It is time to make an example out of China and prove that there are consequences to cheating the United States on trade."
After Trump announced the tariffs last Thursday, China responded by saying it would place import tariffs on several American-made goods.
By Monday, however, China appeared to be taking a few baby steps back from starting a trade war with the United States — which resulted in the biggest single-day point gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 2008.
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