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Stronger tariffs on China and other countries could be key tactics in a second Trump presidency, according to one of the architects of his previous one.

"He is deadly serious," former US Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr. told me about potential new tariffs on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast on Friday (watch video above; listen below).

Ross served as the 39th US Commerce Secretary from 2017 to 2021 and is the author of the new book " Risks and Returns, Creating Success in Business and Life ."

The Trump administration slapped 25% tariffs on Chinese washing machines, solar panels, steel, aluminum, and other goods in 2018. The maneuvers reflected Trump's long-held assertion that China was ripping off American businesses via artificially low prices.

The Biden administration has kept the Trump tariffs on China in place, for the most part.