Thune Asked Point Blank Why It Makes Sense To ‘Threaten’ Allies Like Japan, South Korea With Tariffs
and reconciliation. Japan and South Korea are two of our most important security and trade partners. In fact, we have trade agreements with both of them uh in technology and agriculture. Why does it make sense to threaten these two important allies with a 25% tariff? Well, I mean, I think we’ve made great headway. Um, I was in both Japan and South Korea last August with Bill Hagerty who was the uh ambassador to Japan in the in the first Trump administration and there were a lot of conversations around creating a trilateral trade agreement where our countries would all have an open and and fair trading process. I think notwithstanding the progress that we’ve made and I would can speak from personal experience, they’ve opened up, Japan has in the last few years to American beef, which is something that previously we’d had a lot of issues with with regard to tariffs. So, I’m I’m hoping that um the administration by getting Japan and South Korea to the table can create the kind of trading relationship that will be economically beneficial not only to the United States but to Japan and South Korea and that will further isolate China. And I think when there are good strong economic relationships, it also has the tangential benefit of strengthening national security. And we have a lot of interests, a lot at stake in that region of the world. So I hope as the administration works through this the conversations that they’re having with Japan and South Korea that the ultimate uh endstate will be a an agreement that opens up trade among our nations and creates that kind of a trilateral trading relationship.
At a Senate Republican press briefing on Wednesday, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) spoke about tariffs on Japan and South Korea.
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43 Comments
He said nothing!
Beef is too expensive right now because demand is exceeding supply, so now we want to create more demand by selling to Japan?
Boy, Answer avoidance by a professional politician. Sad
TACO being TACO and lap dog being a lap dog.
It’s a horrible policy made by someone with no understanding of how things work and really totally brainless
He didn’t really answer the question though as usual!
Japan, like Canada, won't bend the knee to Trump, soon, America will have no allies, we all know it's just not worth it the trust is gone.
When a country is wick this is what happens, Trunk is trying to make Japan go down. jelowes.
Because they don't know how to negotiate, just threats that what Trump does to everyone!
He's dellusional. Just like trump. They think trump stinks. And their not going to kiss his ring. His allure is fading. Especially with other world leaders. To them, he's a clown and big bully
Thune used a whole lotta words to say a whole lot of nothing.
It’s been said that obesity is the greatest threat to American Society and a comorbid complications that come with it. I would render the assumption that tone deafness is the greatest threat to American Society. What possible bearing does this man’s trip to Japan last August have anything to do with the present circumstances being manipulated by Donald Trump? I’m flabbergasted that these elected officials, who are supposed to have a basic level of education a basic ability to think critically are the source of such unmitigated stupidity
Amazing ignorance about geo-politics
If people would actually listen and think critically, they would understand the meta messages in this. Watch his body language. Listen to the tone of his voice. Understand his VERY specific vocabulary and sentence structure. While I think MAGAts are insane, it's important in this moment to really analyze the psychology behind this. He didn't say one word about trump being correct or doing his bidding. He talked about a deal that would benefit the US, Japan, S. Korea, and isolate China. THAT is what Thune wants most. He wants to keep open and good trade relations. Thune is happy with those relationships and doesn't want them burned to the ground, as we've seen in our relationships with the other countries trump has burned.
LOL. Bootlicker
Interesting
Threatened with tariffs but help me with China
Japan and South Korea have become better than us.
Plus they started putting tariffs on our products before we pushed it back.
So here we go pulling the tail of the dragon again. Do they ever learn anything or are they intentionally leading us to an unnecessary war that will involve American soil?
This is what I voted for!
Countries that don't want American meats and food is because they have taste and understand quality. I saw trump on tv in Front of people embarrass himself by saying france doesnt even take our cheese…… Really they didnt want jars of cheese jizz? No singles??? If he had ever been to these other countries and looked at how agriculture wasn't just monoculture pumping hormone infused steroid meats into the market for huge profits he would understand why nobody wants his countries garbage.
What if china is saving more people than the government?
trump does not want a 'fair trade agreement' he wants the world to bow down and buy every poor product that america wants to push on them, no govenrment can actually make people buy american crap if they do not want to! BABA – Buy Anything But American! This is what the worlds believes in.
Didn't answer the question that was asked.
Backwards, lies so many lies
The majority had no idea what was in the bill and they have no idea what they are talking about regarding tariffs. The entire gop and frumps admin are theater. This is the most ridiculous time line in American history. Pathetic that citizens actually applaud this clown show STILL. They prove their cult hive minds are real and not just insults more and more every day. Maga voters Pathetic need for attention is the only reason they applaud instead of admit they got played.
Just more bullshit
The US has no allies. It has vassal states like in Europe, occupied countries( like Japan , South korea and Germany) and a whole bunch of enemies to various degrees. America first does not make good friendship.😳
Well did it make sense to threaten your biggest and oldest trading partner with annexation?!?
Canadians are refusing to buy American goods and go to the US.
How does that make sense !?!
Why isolate China as policy? Why not learn to cooperate? Honestly, you people are shameful.
The theory that Trump was a smart businessman is demonstrably false. He's failed at nearly every legitimate business venture and most of the scams too.
His wealth was derived from being a celebrity con-man whose fallback position was to be a bully to anyone who saw through him.
His powers as a con-man and school yard bully are null & void in the real world on an international level when he has to deal with people who are neither impressed by nor afraid of him and much smarter than he is.
Ask rest of the world to pay high tarriff and helping to isolate China as same time. What cracy idea. it mean everyone needs to pay American entry fee to get into US market and keeping Chinese market . US is only one bettee off . Rest of the world is x off
Why bother showing non-answers and your spineless journalist not following up with the same exact question til it gets answered
Same old story 😴 just another day as we wonder what happens next? Oh yeah, electricity went up, gasoline went up, and food went up. Who can afford beef?
Blah blah blah blah as I open a can of tuna. I'm glad I love tuna salad. 😋
He didn’t answer the question…
Talk about fluff
It is spending political capital that there is no way to get back.
And anyone with any kind of numerical and tech literacy realizes that China's ascendancy had only just started and the US has no practical response.
Is this justifying Trumps inadequate trade policy?
Our beef trade is already high.
Leading suppliers: Australia and the United States have consistently been the largest suppliers of beef to Japan, accounting for nearly 90% of total imports in 2024.
Other contributors: Canada also plays a significant role in Japan's beef imports.
Minimal imports from China (pre-ban lift): Prior to the recent lifting of the ban, China was not a major source of beef imports for Japan.
Broader context of China's beef market
It's important to note that China is a major player in the global beef market:
Largest importer: China was the world's largest importer of beef in 2024.
Key suppliers: China's primary beef suppliers include Brazil, Argentina, and Australia.
“No collusion”
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Trumps "yes man!"
China used to buy lots of beef and agricultural, now they get all that else where. Thx to Trump. 2 smaller markets won't replace the largest market on earth.
Americans first thought is to threaten, they do not think much, and second thought is to blame anyone else. Third thought would have to wait for the next day, then threaten and blame again.