The governor addressed the subject Wednesday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a brand new GSP publish on the Governor’s Mansion in Buckhead.
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday reacted to President Donald Trump’s pivot on tariffs, saying he felt it was a “good transfer to focus and sq. up on China.”
The president introduced a 90-day pause on the tariffs that had simply gone into impact for many nations — the notable exception being China, for whom he raised tariffs to 125%.
“When you may have commerce battles like this, there’s gonna be winners and losers,” the governor stated. “So I believe the transfer the president made immediately, I believe calms a few of that down. We have been listening to, I imply I hear each day from corporations the place these strikes might have benefited them and others it might have harm. And so I believe the steps they took immediately to actually go after China and attempt to lower a cope with them, get them to return to the desk, was a very good transfer.”
Gov. Kemp touched on the developments in feedback following a ribbon-cutting for a brand new Georgia State Patrol publish on the Governor’s Mansion in Buckhead. He stated of China, “They’re an enormous buying and selling accomplice, however additionally they have been — as many individuals say — ripping us off in loads of alternative ways.”
“I imply whenever you look, they have been stealing mental property from Georgia companies and United States companies and different companies world wide, you already know proprietary know-how and different issues,” Kemp added. “So I am not saying we need not commerce with them once more, however we additionally must ship the message of like, we will not maintain doing what we have been doing.”
The governor stated the White Home focusing its tariff technique on China will enable financial system some respiration room.
“I believe what occurred immediately, it actually will enable I believe him, the Congress, the nation’s governors like myself, to return and begin doing what we do on a regular basis… reducing taxes, dregulating, making Georgia a fantastic place to do enterprise.”
Gov. Kemp, who extra lately has had hotter relations with the White Home after a frostier private relationship with President Trump prior to now over the 2020 election, has made it a signature of his tenure to draw overseas funding in Georgia. He put forth a optimistic notice in regards to the tariffs being relaxed on most nations.
“We received loads of nice overseas corporations which might be within the state of Georgia, and so they’ve introduced loads of jobs right here, even during the last six years,” Kemp stated. “…Persons are diversifying their provide chains, and Georgia’s been an enormous beneficiary of that due to our enterprise atmosphere, due to our hardworking individuals and since we have had nice websites for individuals to go to.”
The governor, who after serving two phrases can’t run for reelection subsequent 12 months, additionally took a query a few potential Senate run in 2026. He stated he nonetheless doesn’t “actually have a set timeframe on that” however that he was going to “give some thought to that” as “persons are reaching out to me speaking to me about that.”
Kemp stated he hopes to quickly get “slightly little bit of downtime after I can suppose by means of issues.”
