Trump administration 'holds 18th-century views of trade,' says GOP senator Ben Sasse

ByDAVID CAPLAN ABCNews logo
Sunday, September 3, 2017

Republican senator Ben Sasse is taking aim at Donald Trump's perspective on global trade, characterizing it as dated and out-of-touch, following reports that the president is considering withdrawing from a free trade deal with South Korea.

"The president and Nebraska have a basic disagreement about trade," Sasse tweeted Saturday night. "His Administration holds 18th-century views of trade as a zero-sum game. I side with our farmers and ranchers who are feeding the world now." Sasse did not elaborate on his comments.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a business lobbying group, said that the White House has alerted lawmakers that a notification of intent to pull out of the trade deal may come as soon as Tuesday.

And while touring the flooding devastation in Houston Saturday, Trump told Reuters that the trade agreement is "very much on my mind."

The Trump administration in July kicked off negotiations with South Korean officials to make adjustments to the deal, know as KORUS. Trump has called the deal, which went into effect in 2012, a bad deal.

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