Trump 'doing the Lord's work' to defend US against China: Kudlow
White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow says no one is better equipped than President Trump to stand up to China.
“Regarding manufacturing and particularly manufacturing exports, I know everybody wants to go after President Trump, who is doing, in my judgement, he is doing the Lord’s work to defend the United States economy and its national security by showing how China must change its ways,” Kudlow told FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.” on Friday.
Trump has been engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war with Beijing that has seen the U.S. slap tariffs on more than $350 billion of Chinese goods. China has responded with tariffs on $185 billion of U.S. products.
While things have recently been quiet on the trade front, talks are expected to resume next week in Washington, when Liu He, China’s top trade negotiator is expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightheizer on Thursday and Friday. Trade negotiations are expected to continue into the following week. Kudlow says while the president wants to make a deal, he's not going to agree to a deal just to get something done.
"President Trump has said he'd like to have a deal, but it has to be a good deal covering all the issues, the IP theft and the forced technology transfer and of course the tariff," Kudlow said.
As for the economy, Kudlow said he sees “no recession in sight” when looking at both the coincident and forward-looking indicators. The jobs report out Friday morning showed the U.S. economy added 136,000 nonfarm jobs in September as the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent, its lowest in 50 years. Other recent hard economic data, including retail sales, housing and durable goods have also topped expectations.
Kudlow noted that the unemployment rate comes from the household survey, which he said is "frequently a leading indicator of a better economy.”