Donald Trump Says Trade Wars Are 'Good and Easy to Win'
President Donald Trump has defended his proposed steel and aluminum tariffs in an early morning tweet, stating that trade wars are “good, and easy to win.”
The tweet follows a slump in the markets, as stocks in Asia and Europe fell sharply on Friday following mounting fears over Trump’s proposed tariffs.
“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,” Trump tweeted on Friday morning.
“Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!” he added.
When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018
Trump announced the duties on Thursday during a White House meeting with the country’s biggest steel and aluminum manufacturers, where he said he would impose a 10% tariff on aluminum and a 25% tariff on steel, The Wall Street Journal reports. The move is intended to counteract the foreign steel and aluminum that currently saturate the market.
“Aluminum has been decimated in this country,” Trump said. “We’re bringing it back.”
Trump’s comment about “a certain country” in his latest tweet appears to reference China, whose expansions in the steel industry have caused a global glut and driven prices down.
“All countries’ steel and aluminum industries are facing difficulties,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing, according to Reuters.
“China urges the United States to show restraint in using protective trade measures, respect multilateral trade rules, and make a positive contribution to international trade order.”
