The White House defended President Donald Trump's trade and tariff policies on Tuesday as Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., lambasted the president during a Democratic National Committee press call for prioritizing a "ridiculous trade war" over U.S. farmers.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital: "If the American people cared about the opinions of the imbecilic buffoon known as Tim Walz, they wouldn't have resoundingly rejected him and his cackling running mate on Election Day back in November."
Trump last week floated imposing an additional 100% tariff on China starting on Nov. 1, as the U.S. and China remain locked in a brutal trade war since the president declared April 2 "Liberation Day," seeking reciprocal tariff agreements worldwide. Walz on Tuesday said global competition keeps American prices down, and that Trump's tariffs on China are driving up costs for U.S. farmers.
"All of those things are at threat because of Donald Trump's ego," Walz said. "This is a ridiculous trade war … you couldn't write this and be more messed up than putting these tariffs on, putting our farmers at risk, our family farms at risk, turning around and bailing out another country and Argentina, who took their markets."
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China halted purchases of American soybeans this spring, retaliating against Trump's tariffs as a means of gaining leverage in trade talks by shifting purchases away from U.S. producers to countries such as Brazil and Argentina. China is the world's leading importer of soybeans, bringing in 61% of the world's traded soybean supplies over the last five marketing years, according to data from the American Soybean Association.
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Walz on Tuesday criticized Trump's tariffs for forcing U.S. farmers to lose out on exporting to China.
"It took decades to establish these markets," Walz said. "China didn't just sign one-year contracts with Argentina. They signed some of them for up to a decade long, and it's going to take us years to get these markets back."
The White House has relentlessly defended the administration's "Liberation Day" tactics as a strategy to level the playing field in the global economy.
"President Trump's trade and tariff policies are resetting decades of America Last, 'free' trade policies that decimated American industry and hollowed out American communities," Desai said in a statement on behalf of the White House. "That includes American farmers being unfairly boxed out of foreign markets, a wrong that President Trump's historic trade deals with the UK, EU and Japan are correcting."
But Walz said U.S. exports ensure economic stability and, with China opting to purchase goods from Brazil and Argentina, "all of this is at risk."
"Everything Donald Trump does is transactional," Walz said. "And unfortunately, that transaction needs to benefit him personally."
The failed vice presidential candidate blamed Republicans, who he said "could fix this."
"My God, this is Republican orthodoxy," Walz said. "Free markets lift all boats, allow people to compete, allow them to go. This is capitalism 101. And what we're getting out of him is a command economy by an authoritarian leader who is picking and choosing winners and losers. And who's losing is American producers, America's rural communities and consumers."
Earlier this summer, foreign policy experts criticized Walz for claiming China might be the voice of "moral authority" following Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and military leaders.
"Now, who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement in this? Who holds the moral authority? Who holds the ability to do that? Because we are not seen as a neutral actor, and we maybe never were," Walz said of the United States' role in deescalating tensions in the Middle East.
Walz said Americans must face the reality that the "neutral actor" with the "moral authority" to lead negotiations in the Middle East "might be the Chinese."
The Minnesota Democrat, who is seeking a third gubernatorial term next year, on Tuesday criticized Trump's trade and tariff policies just as the president returned from brokering a Gaza ceasefire that led to the release of the remaining living hostages.
Fox News Digital's Eric Revell contributed to this report.
