Trump: U.S. is a 'laughing stock'

donald_trump.gi.top.jpg By Annalyn Censky, staff reporter


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Real estate mogul Donald Trump told hundreds of conservative activists Thursday, that if he was president, he would take in "hundreds of billions from countries that are screwing us."

The comment repeated past statements from "The Apprentice" star, who has said he wants to put a 25% tariff on all Chinese imports, to level trade imbalances in the global economy.

Speaking in D.C. at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, Trump said the United States has become a "laughing stock" and "whipping post" for the rest of the world.

Among a laundry list of unrelated grievances, Trump was referring partially to a trade imbalance with China -- a topic he has previously ranted on publicly many times.

"The world is treating us without respect, they are not treating us properly," he said.

China has a massive trade surplus, meaning it exports far more than it imports. Meanwhile, the United States is running a $38.7 billion trade deficit.

While Trump's comments are more colorful than others, the imbalance between the world's two largest economies has become a sore point also for U.S. policymakers lately.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has been pushing China to allow its currency, the yuan, to appreciate more rapidly against the dollar. Critics say China keeps its currency artificially low, giving their exporters an unfair advantage on the world stage.

And a tariff on China is not a new idea. In September, lawmakers in the House passed a bill to impose duties on imports from countries with undervalued currencies.

The Senate never voted on the bill, but a group of lawmakers has vowed to introduce similar legislation this year.

At the CPAC conference, Trump also ripped on OPEC for high oil prices and the New York Stock Exchange's negotiations with a German exchange.

Much to the disappointment of many in the crowd, he also said conservative favorite Rep. Ron Paul of Texas cannot win a presidential election.

"I like Ron Paul, I think he's a good guy, but honestly, he has just zero chance of getting elected," he said.

Trump reiterated he would consider running for president in the 2012 elections, but said he would not make an official decision until June. He told CNBC last month that he would first have to wait for the latest season of celebrity "Apprentice" to wind down.

"It lasts to almost June, and I'm not allowed to do anything or talk about it before that," he said at the time To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
Sponsors

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.