U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Boeing South Carolina facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., February 17, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- During a visit to a Boeing plant on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump once again touted his "America first" agenda, vowing to bring jobs home and level the playing field for American workers by stopping "foreign cheating."
"You have heard me say it before and I will say it again. From now on, it's going to be America first," Trump told a cheering crowd of workers at the unveiling ceremony of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner at the Boeing facility in Charleston, South Carolina.
The U.S. must rely less on imports and more on products made in the U.S., Trump said in the speech.
He said, as president, he will do everything he can "to unleash the power of the American spirit and to put our great people back to work."
"This is our mantra, 'buy American and hire American.' We want products made in America, made by American hands," he added, citing his request for the pipes to be used in the Keystone pipeline be manufactured in the United States.
Trump said his focus is all about creating jobs, and he will do everything possible to bring jobs back into America.
He said he will make it harder for American businesses to outsource jobs overseas, by imposing a "substantial penalty" on U.S. companies which make products abroad and sell them back in the U.S. market.
"I don't want companies leaving our country. Making their product, selling it back, no tax, no nothing, firing everybody in our country. We're not letting that happen anymore, folks," the billionaire-turned president said.
To achieve his goal, Trump promised to "massively reduce job crushing regulations" and enforce strong trade rules to stop "foreign cheating" so to level the playing field for American workers.
"When there is a level playing field -- and I've been saying this for a long time -- American workers will always, always, always win. But we don't have a level playing field. Very shortly, you will have a level playing field again," he said, without going into details.
The election victory of Trump, who based his presidential campaign on anti-globalization and protectionist trade promises, has stoked fears about rising trade frictions with its major trade partners.
At the same time, Trump vowed to "fully rebuild" the U.S. military so that none will dare to challenge it, by ensuring it will acquire "the latest, the most cutting edge systems in their arsenal."
He added his administration is "looking seriously" at a big order for procuring the F-18 Super Hornet fighters from Boeing, which also produces other advanced military aircraft such as the F-15 Strike Eagle and Apache helicopter.
