Ex-National Security Advisor: U.S. Should Work with Allies, Partners on Tariffs

Yomiuri Shimbun

2 days ago

Herbert McMaster
WASHINGTON — Herbert McMaster, 62, a former national security advisor during U.S. President Donald Trump's first administration, said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun that he hopes the United States will work with allies and partners to put tariffs on China. The following excerpts from the interview have been edited for flow and clarity.
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The Yomiuri Shimbun: What do you think about the current state of negotiations between the United States and China? Was it appropriate for the U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the tariffs on Beijing from 145% to 30%?
Herbert McMaster: Of course, the 145% tariff was just not sustainable. It was an effective embargo on Chinese goods, and there are real legitimate concerns with unfair trade and economic practices by the Chinese Communist Party, as well as real, very significant security concerns associated with China's sustained campaign of industrial espionage and cyber espionage, as well as China's desire to gain control of critical supply chains.
So, there's a reason behind the tariffs on China, and I think the reason is to counter Chinese economic aggression and to reduce China's coercive power over our economies. And so what I hope will emerge here is the equivalent of about a 60% tariff on China, when you take into account sectoral tariffs … on certain commodities that it just dumps on the international market, to prevent our companies from succeeding or developing the industrial capacity. This is, of course, steel and aluminum and other commodities, and then also certain hardware and electronics, like solar panels and wind turbines and batteries, for example. And then also other critical sectors, like pharmaceuticals.
What he tries to do, and what he has great faith in his ability to do, is to get these big deals that nobody else could get. I think … his effort to get that big deal like in his first administration will fail.
That's when you had, actually, pretty well-motivated and effective negotiators like Liu He; they're all gone now. So, all you have are really Xi Jinping die-hards, real hardline Chinese Communist Party officials, and so they're not going to give anything.
Yomiuri: Are there concerns about making concessions to China on issues such as Taiwan in exchange for concessions on tariffs and trade?
McMaster: What I think Xi Jinping would hope for, is this kind of G2 relationship with the United States, where we grant each other spheres of influence.
What China is trying to do is to create an exclusionary sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific region, while creating new areas of influence across the world that will allow China to rewrite the rules of international discourse in favor of its authoritarian form of governance and its state mercantilist economic model. And if China succeeds in that, then the whole free world loses.
Every free-market economy loses, and so what we need is to work together to prevent that from happening.
I hope that we put those tariffs in place alongside allies and partners, and I think that's going to be a big element of these renegotiated trade deals.
If you look at Donald Trump's agenda, you know, his agenda is homeland security, border security, he is very consistent on that. His agenda is deregulation and economic growth. He wants to invigorate the defense-industrial base. He's all about energy dominance or what we would call energy security, right? And he's about burden sharing and defense. That sounds like Japan's agenda to me.
And so, what I would like to see, and I think what Japan can maybe lead in, is to say, 'enough with the negativity. Let's think about the positive agenda.' We have real issues on supply chain resilience. We have real issues on our industrial base and in critical sectors like shipbuilding. The United States isn't going to address any of those issues by itself. It needs Japan, it needs Europe. It needs South Korea on shipbuilding issues and other issues.
Yomiuri: Are you concerned that U.S. allies may distance themselves from the country because of high tariffs imposed on them?
McMaster: Yes. So, in my book, I would say to President Trump, 'Hey, Mr. President, if we shoot all of our allies to get to China, China wins.'
— This interview was conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers Takashi Imai and Mineko Tokito.
Herbert McMaster
Following his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served in the military for more than 30 years. He served as national security adviser, an important post that serves as a command center for the country's diplomatic and security policies, from February 2017 to April 2018, during U.S. President Donald Trump's first administration. Currently, McMaster serves as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.