John Kasich in CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2018

On Free Trade: Tariffs lead to acrimony among friends & going it alone

KASICH: Well, because there's also unanimity among Republicans, Democrats, all the people that study these things, you get into trade wars--when you take nationalism as an approach to your economy--it can lead to war. And we know what happened when we imposed all these barriers on people in the past. The economy slowed down, people paid higher prices. And then, beyond that, it increases acrimony among our friends. I mean, we're punishing our friends. If they were cheating, that's one thing. But they slapped this on under a phony excuse. We're going alone on that. We didn't get in the Pacific trade agreement. We're going it alone. It's not America first. It's America alone. And I think it's just not good policy. In fact, it borders on dangerous, in my opinion.

On Free Trade: Tariffs slow down the economy and hurt 40 million jobs

KASICH: The first thing is that the industry is modernizing. They are more competitive. We have 40 million Americans that work in trade-related jobs. Most of the exports activities in this country are done by small and medium-sized businesses. What this is going to do is cost consumers, slow down the economy. It's not prudent. It's not smart. And those very steelworkers will find out that things will cost more and what they will buy will not be good. So, I hope the administration will back away from this policy.

Q: Have you calculated what the cost to Ohio would be if Canada, Mexico, and the EU go ahead with these tariffs?

KASICH: It's not just my state that's involved here. It's our nation. It has significant consequences for us here at home, not only just economically, but geopolitically.

On Immigration: DREAMers are part of the fabric of America

KASICH: I'm very proud of this group of Republicans who are saying that they're going to do everything they can to get a vote on immigration reform and protecting the DREAMers.

Q: There's a tremendous debate within the party, particularly on this issue of DACA--that a hard stance will win in November. Why do you think that is wrong?

KASICH: Because we have 800,000 people who came to this country as children, they violated no law, they're innocent people who are great contributors. They're part of our fabric. And now we're going to turn around and ship them out? And, you know, everything in life is not about the next election. This is an injustice to these people. And, frankly, the idea that people will stand up against their party or stand up against the president, I respect that.

On War & Peace: Talk with North Korea, but reimpose sanctions if no results

KASICH: I'm worried about our foreign policy. I'm very, very concerned about this upcoming meeting with North Korea. I think we have to be extremely careful. Every time we have entered an agreement, they have backed away from it, they have misled us, and we cannot let the pressure up on North Korea. So, you know, promises don't matter. To me, it has to be a verifiable agreement. And if we relax these sanctions at all, we ought to be committed to being able to reimpose them if the North Koreans break their word. If you let the pressure up, I am very, very fearful that we will just find ourselves in this same situation or worse situation down the road. I'm glad they're talking. I'm glad they're meeting. But don't let the pressure up until we get verifiable results. Anything other than that will weaken our position and strengthen them. And we know what the history of that regime is.