The Heritage Foundation's Dr. James Carafano, vice president of the Davis Institute forNational Security and Foreign Policy, and Jack Spencer, vice president of the Institute for Economic Freedom, released the following statement Thursday in response to the Trump administration's announcement of new tariffs on Chinese goods:

“Without doubt, China is a leading global culprit when it comes to intellectual property theft and cyber crimes against the United States. The Trump administration is right to stand up to this longstanding, unacceptable behavior. However, slapping higher tariffs on Chinese goods—which is ultimately a tax increase on the millions of Americans who purchase them every day—is the economic equivalent of using a flamethrower to put out a house fire.

 

“Instead of relying on outdated economic policies that will punish far more Americans than they help, not to mention blunt the economic momentum created by deregulation and tax reform, the Trump administration should employ all the tools in the strategic toolkit to put true pressure on Beijing.”