Rodney Scott spoke during a policy event in Washington, DC, with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle about how the Trump administration is working to plug up vulnerabilities in customs enforcement to keep other countries from undercutting American industry.
The post Exclusive – Rodney Scott on CBP’s Economic Security Role: ‘No Reason to Protect the Borders if the Rest of the Country Is a 3rd World Nation’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Economic security is “just as important to national security as the physical border,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Rodney Scott said on Tuesday.
Scott spoke during a policy event in Washington, DC, with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle about how the Trump administration is working to plug up vulnerabilities in customs enforcement to keep other countries from undercutting American industry.
“What are some of the major threats that you guys are seeing on a daily basis right now when it comes to the customs front of things, when it comes to what are bad actors around the world trying to do to take advantage of weaknesses? What are they targeting us with? What are some of the big, big issues that we see on a daily basis that you guys face?” Boyle asked.
WATCH THE FULL EVENT:
“The ones that get the most attention are literally the precursor chemicals, the synthetic narcotics, the fentanyl, trying to use the cover of mass global trade to hide the commodity, just like they use massive amounts of illegal aliens at the border to hide the bigger threat,” Scott replied.
“Companies, nation states try to use the global trade — but that was that customs EO we put out that’s mandating more and more information be provided to us in advance so that we can target and figure out where those commodities are,” he said, referring to the executive order President Donald Trump signed in June cracking down on the smuggling of illegal goods into the U.S.
“But I think other people forget too that economic security is just as important to national security as the physical border piece. There’s no reason to protect the borders if the rest of the country … was a third world nation …” he continued. “So, literally making sure that other companies, other countries aren’t dumping their commodities and undermining the American businesses — making sure they’re not getting undercut. That’s what a lot of the tariffs that we are rolling out are really wrapped around …”
“And then, whether it be intentional or unintentional, there are bio threats, there are biohazards. A lot of times, that is incidental, but there are threat streams out there where it’s intentionally pushed into this country,” he added. “If another country sees our agricultural business as a threat to theirs, all you have to do is put some of these invasive species into the country pretty quickly, and it’ll wipe out an entire industry in the United States. People forget that’s part of CBP’s job as well.”
Tuesday’s event included a discussion with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin about border security, public safety, and American sovereignty. The event was held in partnership with CGCN and ALFA Institute.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
