Politics Today

WASHINGTON (AP) — New audio released by The New York Times refutes Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's claim that he never called for a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports during a recent editorial board meeting with the paper.
Trump, during Thursday night's debate, denied having called for the 45 percent tariff if he's elected president.
"That's wrong. They were wrong," he said during the debate, which was hosted by Fox Business Network. "It's the New York Times," he added. "They are always wrong."
He later said: "I'm totally open to a tariff. If they don't treat us fairly, hey, their whole trade is tariffed. You can't deal in China without tariffs. They do it to us, we don't it. It's not fair trade."
THE FACTS: An audio clip from the meeting posted by the paper contradicts the billionaire businessman and GOP candidate.
"I would tax China coming in, products coming in," Trump is heard saying. "I would do a tariff and they do it to us. We have to be smart."
"I'm a free trader. I love free trade, but it's got to be reasonably fair," he adds. "I would do a tax, and the tax — let me tell you what the tax should be: The tax should be 45 percent. That would be a tax that would be an equivalent to some of the kind of, you know, devaluations that they've done. They cannot believe that we haven't done this yet."
Trump has also called for penalties on companies, such as auto manufacturers, that shift manufacturing overseas.

AP