Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Wilbur Louis RossTikTok, WeChat to be banned Sunday from US app stores The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by National Industries for the Blind - Trump seeks to flip 'Rage' narrative; Dems block COVID-19 bill Judge orders Trump administration stop 'winding down' census collection, processing efforts MORE said Tuesday that the Trump administration's response to unfair trade practices shouldn't be viewed as protectionism.

Ross said the United States is well within its rights to levy trade remedies against countries like China and the European Union as a way to protect American exporters.

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"Defending U.S. workers and businesses against this onslaught should not be mislabeled as protectionism," Ross wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

"Insisting on fair trade is the best way to ensure the long-term strength of the international trading system," he said.

Instead, Ross said, those same trading partners that are complaining that the U.S. is taking more protectionist steps against them are maintaining high tariffs, using government subsidies to undercut American products while raking in trade surpluses.

"Our major trading partners issue frequent statements regarding their own free-trade bona fides, but do they practice what they preach? Or are they protectionists dressed in free-market clothing?" he said.

He said the Trump administration will "use every available tool to counter the protectionism of those who pledge allegiance to free trade while violating its core principles."

Ross said that better trade deals will reveal how much barriers have contributed to the nation's trade deficits.

"Until we make better deals with our trading partners, we will never know precisely how much of our deficit in goods is due to such trickery,” Ross said.

"But there can be no question that these barriers are responsible for a significant portion of our current trade imbalance," he said.

Ross also called out the World Trade Organization (WTO) for casting the U.S. filing of more trade enforcement cases as evidence of protectionism.

The Trump administration has talked about levying higher tariffs on some steel imports, including those from China.

But President Trump said last week that any decision on the issue is on hold.

“Apparently, the possibility never occurs to the WTO that there are more trade cases because there are more trade abuses,” Ross said.

He said the WTO should protect free trade, "not attack those trade remedies necessary to ensure a level playing field."