Trump to pull U.S. out of WTO if his ‘penalizing’ proposal is blocked
Washington, July 25 : U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has threatened to pull America out of the World Trade Organization (WTO) if his proposal on penalizing U.S. companies for moving their production overseas is blocked. Trump said that if he is elected as the next U.S. president, he would impose a tax on U.S. companies that shift production overseas then sell the products back to the U.S., reports Xinhua. "If they're going to fire all their people, move their plant to Mexico, build air conditioners, and think they're going to sell those air conditioners to the United States, there's going to be a tax," said Trump. He added that the tax rate could be 15 percent, 25 percent or 35 percent, and could be different for different companies. When told that such tax would not get through the WTO, Trump said he would then renegotiate "or we're going to pull out." "These trade deals are a disaster. World Trade Organization is a disaster," said Trump. He also reiterated his support to 'Brexit' saying that a fractured Europe is not necessarily bad for the U.S. because the primary reason that European countries got together is to defeat the U.S. on trade. Trump also stood by his position that the U.S. protection of other NATO members should be conditional on their financial contribution. The countries mentioned by him that have to pay for the U.S. protection included Japan, Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. "We're a different country today. We're much weaker. Our military is depleted. We owe tremendous amounts of money. We have to be reimbursed," said Trump.