Joe Walsh on Free Trade Republican presidential primary challenger (former IL Rep.)

Everybody loses in a trade war with China

He says that the tariffs amount to a tax increase on the middle class and that Beijing's retaliation is "devastating to our farmers." He calls Trump's claim that tariffs are paid by for by China "absurd."

Supports a free trade system; opposes tariffs on China

On trade:
• Walsh supports a free trade system and came out strongly against Trump's trade war with China and his decision to raise tariffs.
• Walsh has also said Trump is "clueless" on trade.
• At Business Insider's Republican debate, Walsh blasted Trump's trade war and tariffs on China as damaging to the American economy.
• He also vowed to undo the tariffs if he were elected.

China cheats world, so deal with them with world coalition

Joe Walsh: China cheats but they don't just cheat against us. They cheat against the whole world. And they've been doing it for a long time. So in comes Trump, and throws down tariffs against everybody and he goes at China all by himself. And so who pays the price? We do: our farmers, small business, and American consumers. The mistake Trump made, is he put us out there on an island all by ourselves. Instead of rallying the whole world--getting us back in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, where we could have a coalition of countries that could deal with China--he's done it all by himself. And America has paid a big, big price for that. You got to bring the world together to fight China.

Tariffs are a tax increase on middle-class Americans

Walsh, who has come under criticism from listeners for espousing anti-Trump views on his radio show, called out the Republican Party for supporting a president whose tariffs amount to a "tax increase on middle-class Americans and are devastating to our farmers."

"That's not a smart electoral strategy," he warned fellow conservatives. "It's one of the many reasons Mr. Trump is ripe for a primary challenger. In fact, it would buck the historical trend if he didn't have one. More often than not, unpopular presidents face primary challengers."

Rated 63% by the USAE, indicating a mixed record on trade.

Ratings by USA*Engage indicate support for trade engagement or trade sanctions. The organization's self-description: "USA*Engage is concerned about the proliferation of unilateral foreign policy sanctions at the federal, state and local level. Despite the fact that broad trade-based unilateral sanctions rarely achieve our foreign policy goals, they continue to have political appeal. Unilateral sanctions give the impression that the United States is 'doing something,' while American workers, farmers and businesses absorb the costs."

USA*Engage at Work
• Developing the Case: USA*Engage explains the benefits of economic engagement, and the high cost of sanctions for American exports, investment and jobs.
• Education: We recruit respected foreign policy and economic experts to speak out against sanctions, actively engage the media and provide outreach to key target states and Congressional districts.
• Contacting Government Officials: USA*Engage directly contacts Congressional, Administration, state and local officials.

VoteMatch scoring for the USA*Engage ratings is as follows :

• 0%-49%: supports trade sanctions;
• 50%-74%: mixed record on trade engagement;
• 75%-100%: supports trade engagement.