The head of global leader Koch Industries on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to call off its trade war with China and others, warning that it could sink the U.S. economy and give rise to socialism that hurts workers.
In an exclusive interview, Charles Koch said, “the less trade we have the worse everybody is. I mean, the less exports we have the less imports we have and that makes us worse off. And the more we isolate ourselves, the less we learn of improvements and developments and innovations around the world.”
And, he warned, “If goods don’t cross borders soldiers will and we see that now in this trade war. It’s just creating more animosity and it could escalate.”
Koch has been a leading pro-trade voice even when it hurts his companies. For example he recently penned a column for the Washington Post in which he decried President Trump’s trade tariffs on steel. Koch is a major steel producer.
“We’re working hard against all these other protectionist trade barriers that are just different forms of corporate welfare which, other than a few special interests, will make Americans worse off,” he told Secrets.
Our founder, Charles Koch, on why he is working to eliminate cronyism and why tariffs “will only perpetuate the rigged system that threatens the very core of our society.” https://t.co/Od5pQUKqQg
— Charles Koch Inst. (@CKinstitute) March 8, 2018
Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive of Koch Industries, called cashing in on export tariffs and walls a “cancer” on the nation that has to be avoided.
It’s “a cancer on society,” he said, when business pushes a policy of “let’s rig the system so that we can make a quick buck.”
A student of philosophy and history, Koch said in the telephone interview from his Wichita, Kan., HQ that he worries that expanding trade barriers and tariffs will hurt the country. He cited several nations, including the former Soviet Union and China, that became “third world” after imposing isolationist policies.
And he fears that younger Americans are getting a skewed view of capitalism.
“Corporate welfare and cronyism is, I think, a contributing factor to so many young people being socialists because if the government is going to determine who succeeds in business, who needs the business people. Just let the government do it. So I think it’s suicidal for long term,” said Koch.
Trump and his commerce secretary have championed the new tariffs on China as an attempt to make trade more fair. Koch said that he has not had discussions with the White House on the issues.
However, he said that some lawmakers have used his Post column to urge fewer tariffs. It has also sparked a lively debate on right-leaning talk radio where many of the president’s tariff policies have come under fire because of the resulting counter tariffs that have hit small industries in America.
Instead of punching and counterpunching, Koch held out his company’s philosophy as a model.
“A key element in that is not having protectionism in any of its forms but creating what we call virtuous cycles, that is continuing learning and improving and creating value for others, and that’s a way you’re successful and that’s how our company has been successful. Developing capabilities so we can create value for others and do it in a way that we’re compensated obviously or we wouldn’t be successful. So it’s what we call a philosophy of mutual benefit, and that’s what trade is,” he said.
