ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp is weighing in on President Donald Trump’s tariffs and how they could have an impact on Georgia’s economy.
Kemp told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot that he wasn’t sure what the White House’s strategy is behind these tariffs, but he also supports the one on China, even though China is a major trading partner with Georgia.
It’s been barely a week after Trump called rumors of a 90-day pause on international tariffs “fake news,” but he did exactly that, putting a 90-day pause on all international tariffs except for China.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said, “Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the world’s markets, I am hereby raising the tariff to China by the United States of America to 125% effective immediately.”
China is Georgia’s third biggest trading partner for everything from aerospace parts to Georgia poultry.
The executive director of the Hong Kong Association of Atlanta said, “China is one of the major buyers of Georgia poultry.”
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For poultry, as well as other products, China may look elsewhere for relief and Georgia may suffer the consequences of loss of market share.”
“I thought what they did today was a good move,” Kemp said.
As this was happening, Kemp was busy cutting the ribbon on a new Georgia State Patrol post located at the governor’s mansion.
Over his two terms, Kemp has reached out to Asia to get it to invest in Georgia, especially Korea.
He supports the tariff on China, insisting that while a major trading partner, it hasn’t always been a fair one.
“Well, they are a big trading partner, but they also have been, as many say, ripping us off in a lot of different ways.”
We also reached out to the Atlanta consulates for Korea, Japan, and Taiwan but never got a reply.
One Chinese American import export company here in Atlanta told Elliot that they’re concerned because all of this is happening so fast and it’s directly impacting their business.
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