Rubio, in Europe, says US has to ‘reset the global order of trade’ and Trump is ‘absolutely right to do it’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Friday that the U.S. has “to reset the global order of trade” and that President Donald Trump is “absolutely right to do it.” 

Rubio, speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, made the remark after taking issue with a reporter’s claim that world economies are “crashing” in the wake of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. 

“We have to be a country to think we’re the largest consumer market in the world, and yet the only thing we export is services, and we need to stop that,” Rubio said. “We need to get back to a time where we are a country that can make things, and to do that, we have to reset the global order of trade.” 

“So the president rightly has concluded that the current status of global trade is bad for America and good for a bunch of other people. And he’s going to reset it, and he’s absolutely right to do it,” Rubio added. 

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool)

The secretary of state said the “worst thing” the U.S. could do is leave the global trade system “the way it is forever.”

“I mean, this is, just can’t continue. We can’t continue to be a country that doesn’t make things. We have to be able to make things to provide jobs for Americans… it’s that simple,” he added. “China, as an example. I mean, it’s outrageous. I mean, they don’t consume anything. All they do is export and flood and distort markets in addition to all the tariffs and barriers they put in place.” 

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President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2. (Getty Images)

Rubio added “If you’re a company and you make a bunch of your products in China and all of a sudden shareholders or people that play the stock market realize that it’s going to cost a lot more to produce in China, your stock is going to go down, but ultimately the markets, as long as they know what the rules are going to be moving forward, and as long as you can sustain where you’re going to be, the markets will adjust.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the U.S. has “to reset the global order of trade.” (AP/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool)

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“Businesses around the world, including in trade and global trade, they just need to know what the rules are. Once they know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules,” he said. “So I don’t think it’s fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States.”