Paul Ryan holds press conference after Trump's trade agreement
House Speaker Paul Ryan is holding his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday just one day after President Trump announced that the U.S. would begin working with the European Union to get to a point of "zero" tariffs, subsidies and trade barriers. Ryan has been vocal about his opposition to Mr. Trump's tariff policy as of late, calling them "not the right answer."
"I think tariffs are taxes and I think there are better tools that we can use to hold abusers of trade laws and people - countries that perpetuate unfair trade practices – I think there are better tools to use to get them to play fairly. So I just don't think the tariff route is the right way to go," Ryan said on Tuesday.
Following the president's announcement on Wednesday, Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in a statement that the speaker "supports all efforts to reduce and eliminate tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and distorting subsidies. He is encouraged by this progress with our European allies and hopes to see more."
While negotiations are ongoing, Mr. Trump previewed some of the agreements reached between the U.S. and EU on Wednesday, including resolving steel and aluminum tariffs as well as retaliatory tariffs, increase trade in services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and soy beans, and encourage more imports of liquefied natural gas.