Thursday on Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show, Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, explained why it was his view that taking a tough tack with China was in the best interest long-term for the United States.

Perdue argued the Obama administration had created a vacuum for China and others through policies of “retrenchment and withdrawal,” and now Trump was forced to act in what was the country’s interest, which was with tariffs.

“We had a decade under Barack Obama of retrenchment and withdrawal from the rest of the world, and it created an opening and a vacuum for China and Russia and Iran, for that matter, and North Korea, to do nefarious things,” he explained. “And so what we have right now is a president standing up, telling the world it’s going to be America first, but that doesn’t mean America only. The President’s doing what the last five presidents never did, and that is to tell the world what’s important, what is the national interest of America. And this is time in China. I lived over there. I’ve worked with these people. You know, they are going to push as far as they can.”

“And that’s what I said today,” Perdue continued. “President Trump has made it very clear — 25% tariffs are there if they don’t come in and show progress in these negotiations. And let’s remember, he gave them an offramp, a 90 day, and he extended that deal in going from 10% to 25% because they were showing progress. This retrenchment last week now, if they don’t correct that, we’ll end up with these 25% tariffs. And I know how onerous that’s going to be. There’s going to be some pain, Hugh, in the U.S. But who can argue with the President’s long-term agenda to get a level playing field with China?

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor