CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript: Trade Policy

Interview

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BRENNAN: Politics, policy and news, it's all ahead on FACE THE NATION.

Good morning, and welcome to FACE THE NATION.

Trump administration officials got an earful in two parts of the world this weekend about the president's new trade tariffs. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross went on an economic mission to China, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with finance ministers in Canada ahead of this week's G7 Summit.

Here at home, some of the president's biggest supporters, including farmers and manufacturers, are still unsure how these new policies will impact them.

We want to go to Westerville, Ohio, just outside of Columbus, and to the Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich.

Governor, welcome to FACE THE NATION.

These tariffs are popular with many Ohio's steelworkers and even with your home Senator Sherrod Brown, yes, a Democrat, but he supports the president's efforts here. Why do you think some of these working-class Ohioans are wrong?

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: Well, because there's also unanimity among Republicans, Democrats, all the people that study these things, you get into trade wars -- the president of France said, when you have -- when you take nationalism as an approach to your economy, it can lead to war.

And we know what happened when we imposed all these barriers on people in the past. The economy slowed down, people paid higher prices.

And then, beyond that, it increases acrimony among our friends. I mean, we're punishing our friends. If they were cheating, that's one thing. But they slapped this on under a phony excuse. We're going alone on that. We withdrew from the Paris accords. We withdrew from the Iranian deal, which they're furious about.

We didn't get in the Pacific trade agreement. We're going it alone. It's not America first. It's America alone. And I think it's just not good policy. In fact, it borders on dangerous, in my opinion.

BRENNAN: Well, your point is taken on the international scale, but for those steelworkers in Youngstown, Ohio, how do you explain how to protect their jobs? Is this just an industry that can't be saved at this point?

KASICH: Yes, well, the first thing is, is that the industry is modernizing. They are more competitive. We have 40 million Americans that work in trade-related jobs.

Most of the exports activities in this country are done by small and medium-sized businesses. What this is going to do is cost consumers, slow down the economy. It's not prudent. It's not smart.

And those very steelworkers will find out that things will cost more and what they will buy will not be good. So, I hope the administration will back away from this policy.

BRENNAN: Have you calculated what the cost to Ohio would be if Canada, Mexico, and the European Union go ahead with these tariffs?

KASICH: It's not just my state that's involved here. It's our nation. It has significant consequences for us here at home, not only just economically, but geopolitically.

When did it ever make sense for anybody powerful, rich or famous, to say, I will just go it alone? And that's what we're doing. And it's very, very concerning.

And, frankly, my party, the Republican Party, has been in favor of free trade as long as I can remember.

BRENNAN: How do you make the case to bring people back to the party of free trade, because the president ran on this platform, and it was popular. So, how do you convince people that that Reagan era free trade isn't a relic of the past?

KASICH: Well, because, when we take a look at what free trade has done for us, it's lifted more people out of poverty all over the globe.

It's produced better products for us here in the United States because of competition. And it's lowered the prices for consumers. But walking away from free trade and going to protectionism is going to yield, again, products that are not as good, products that are going to cost more.

And it's not going to lead to kind of the ingenuity that the American worker is capable of.

BRENNAN: Well, certainly, Republican leadership in Congress would agree with you on those principles. They're not happy about what the president is doing, but they're also not stopping him or they're unable to stop these tariffs.

KASICH: Well, look, Margaret, I have been, frankly, shocked at the fact that our leaders think they have got to -- they have to ask permission from the president to do anything.

This is very foreign to me. It's alien to me. When you are elected to the United States Senate or the United States House of Representatives, you have a duty to represent your district, but, most important, represent your country, not to just be thinking about your political party.

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BRENNAN: So, what should Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan be doing right now?

KASICH: I think they ought to make it very clear that they're not going to just sit back and tolerate this, that they're going to do whatever they can do legislatively to send a clear signal, the same way they ought to be doing these things on the issue of DACA.

Those are the dreamers that are here. It's like, well, we don't want to pass an immigration bill because the president might veto it. Well, send it to him. Let him veto it. I mean, that's your job as a congressman.

And I have to tell you that I'm very proud of this group of Republicans who are saying that they're going to do everything they can to get a vote on immigration reform and protecting the dreamers.

BRENNAN: The supporters of the president say, though, that immigration and dealing with it now may be a losing prospect when it comes to the November races, particularly on this issue of DACA. There's a tremendous debate within the party about it right now.

Why do you think that is wrong?

KASICH: Because, Margaret, we have 800,000 people who came to this country as children, they violated no law, they're innocent people that came to this country who are great contributors to what is happening in this country.

They're part of our fabric. And now we're going to turn around and ship them out? And, you know, Margaret, everything in life is not about the next election. It is an -- this is an injustice to these people. And, frankly, the idea that people will stand up against their party or stand up against the president, I respect that.

BRENNAN: Are you going to challenge the president in 2020? How do you build a coalition of Republicans, the same Republicans John Boehner said are taking a nap right now?

KASICH: I don't know. Yes, Margaret, I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do in 2020.

I know that I believe that I need to be part of creating a network of people who seek the truth, who are objective and rational. And that's my interest right now. As to what that is going to mean, how that manifests itself, I'm really not quite sure.

BRENNAN: But, for you, immigration and free trade need to be at the heart of it, it sounds like you're saying?

KASICH: Well, I think that's important. The problem with our national debt is skyrocketing. I'm worried about our foreign policy. I'm very, very concerned about this upcoming meeting with North Korea.

I think this is a seminal meeting. I think we have to be extremely careful. Every time we have entered an agreement, they have backed away from it, they have misled us, and we cannot let the pressure up on North Korea.

So, you know, promises don't matter. To me, it has to be a verifiable agreement, a verifiable agreement. And if we relax these sanctions at all, we ought to be committed to being able to reimpose them if the North Koreans break their word.

This is very, very serious, Margaret. If you let the pressure up, I am very, very fearful that we will just find ourselves in this same situation or worse situation down the road. I'm glad they're talking. I'm glad they're meeting. But don't let the pressure up until we get verifiable results.

Anything other than that will weaken our position and strengthen them. And we know what the history of that regime is.

BRENNAN: You have clearly been a critic of the president, but, in this case, do you think his unpredictability has been an asset?

KASICH: Well, look, I praise him when I think he does a good job, and I'm critical when I think he's off the mark.

And in terms of this, I think keeping the pressure on, having these sanctions placed, probably the work that they have done to communicate with China -- and so I give him credit for putting the pressure on, for sure.

But now that it's there, we can't be in a hurry to get an agreement. If we can get some verifiable agreements, fine, we can loosen things.

But there has to be a real gain, and not just a P.R. show. That's just not going to work for the best interests of our country and the world.

BRENNAN: Governor, thank you very much for your time.

KASICH: OK, Margaret, thank you.

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