Donald Trump says that he's okay with meeting dictators if they help US economy

US President Donald Trump said, on November 12, that he has no problem with dictators coming to the United States if it helps the country’s economy. “When I meet with the leaders of countries, as they come in - kings and queens and prime ministers and presidents and dictators - I meet them all,” said the US President at the Economic Club of New York. “Anybody who wants to come in - dictators, it’s okay, come on in,” he added.

'Manufacturers coming back'

Trump said that the policies of past leaders killed manufacturing and was the reason people were losing jobs. Lauding his administration, Trump said that all the manufacturers are coming back to the US. “They want to be where the action is. This is where the action is. There’s nobody close. There’s no country close,” he said.

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Adhere to rules

Trump also emphasised that anyone who wants to access the American market must ‘play by the rules’. 

“They have to respect our game and our laws, and they have to treat our workers and businesses fairly - not the way they’ve been treating them over the last 25 years,” said Trump.

He mentioned the ‘extraordinarily high tariffs’ charged by many countries which apparently create impossible trade barriers. In particular he singled out the European Union. He also said that the EU's tariffs may be worse than China.

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Critical of China's trade practices

The US President has been critical of China for its trade practices which he deemed unfair. In his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, Trump had blamed China for theft of intellectual property and trade secrets on a "grand scale".

“It has embraced an economic model, dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers, and the theft of the intellectual property and also trades secrets on a grand scale,” he said at the UNGA.

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(With inputs from agencies)