Vance touts Trump tariffs while touring plastics maker in Michigan, slams firms who sold out US to literal slave labor in China
BAY CITY, Mich.— Vice President JD Vance defended President Trump’s tariff approach on Friday, saying the US government needs to “fight back” against countries like China who use “literal slaves” in their factories to make cheap goods.The VP, an Ohio native, noted his rural American background as he spoke at a plastics factory in Michigan, speaking to local residents and business owners about the need to produce in the US — and not offshore labor to foreign countries like China, which has forced Uyghur Muslims make products that are later exported to the US.He said foreign countries “use slave labor that undercuts the wages of American workers” and that American leadership over the past 40 years “refused to fight back” against “literal slaves” making “stuff cheaply” and importing into the US.
The argument against forced labor and in favor of US manufacturing — even with higher costs — comes as countries are threatening retaliatory tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s reciprocal tariff threats.Vance touted Trump’s trade and economic policies as kickstarting the economy after former President Joe Biden left office — but warned that those who manufacture outside the US will be “penalized.”“We’re going to cut your taxes, we’re going to slash regulations, and we’re going to reduce the cost of energy to build things right here in this country, that all is love — but if you try to undercut us and build outside of our borders, the President Trump’s administration has got nothing for you,” Vance said in his impassioned speech.If companies choose to manufacture in China, Vance said, then they will “have to pay the consequences.”The veep also slammed the protesters that lined up on the street leading to the factory with signs criticizing his approach to Ukraine.
“Don’t you all have jobs?” he laughed, saying more jobs would “get those people to get off the streets.”Vantage Plastics, where the vice pre...