SMITHTON, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump said Monday his first call in the Oval Office would be to Xi Jinping, demanding the Chinese leader buckle down on a previously struck $50 billion agriculture deal.
“My first call — I’m going to call up President Xi. I’m going to say, ‘you have to honor the deal you made,’” Trump said at a roundtable featuring farmers at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania.
“We made a deal. You’d buy $50 billion worth of American farm product,’ and I guarantee you he will buy it, 100% he will buy it,” Trump added.
The former president struck a deal with China in his first term in tariff negotiations between the US and Beijing, which he said included an agreement for Xi to buy $50 billion worth of American agricultural goods.
Now, Trump said, China is “not living up to it.”
Trump also blasted the Harris-Biden administration for how they’ve handled relations with China during their term and said he would also tell Xi to crack down on fentanyl pouring out of China and across the US-Mexico border.
“Second thing I’m going to do is I’m going to say, ‘you have to give the death penalty to your fentanyl dealers who are sending fentanyl,’” Trump went on.
The roundtable with Pennsylvania farmers was intended to convince the key swing state voters that Trump will do more for farmers than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Both 2024 candidates have hit The Keystone State hard to sway voters their way, as winning the state would be a huge win in the fight for the needed 270 electoral votes.
Trump also stumped for Republican Senate candidate David McCormick, who is fighting an electoral battle against Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.).
McCormick is “going to help me make the farmers rich again,” Trump said.
Trump said he would fight against China buying up American farmland, touted his policy of getting rid of the estate tax and stressed he would protect fracking.
He also announced he would impose a 200% tariff on the tractor company John Deere if they decided to move their manufacturing to Mexico, as planned.
“I’m just notifying John Deere right now, if you do that, we’re putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States,” Trump said, arguing that the company moving to Mexico would hurt farmers.
Those at the roundtable in Pennsylvania told The Post they largely agreed with Trump focusing his efforts on China.
Darrell Becker, the president of the Fayette County Farm Bureau, said the US can’t afford “to ignore China” because “they’re our biggest threat in the entire world and they want to replace us.”
Eric Davanzo, representative of the 58th district in the Pa. House of Representatives, agreed that China should be “at the top of that list” of countries Trump should call.
“Absolutely I feel like it should be his first phone call,” Davanzo said, arguing that the US should deal with China before the relationship becomes a “forest fire.”
