US President Donald Trump says that trade wars hurt American opponents, not the United States. "When we drop by $ 30 billion, $ 40 billion, $ 60 billion, $ 100 billion, a trade war will hurt them, and it will not hurt us," Trump said.
"When we are behind in every country, the trade war is not so bad," Trump said, misrepresenting that the United States has a trade deficit with "every country."
Trump made the remarks at a press conference with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven of Sweden. Last week, Trump unexpectedly announced a 25 percent tariff for steel imports and 10 percent for aluminum imports.
After a few days' announcements by US trading partners said that they will provide a counterattack against the Trump tariff.
Trump said: "We should see," if the tariff triggers a trade war.
"When we are behind in every country, the trade war is not so bad," Trump said, apparently referring to the US as a "back" actor because of the trade deficit. But the United States does not have a trade deficit with "every country," as Trump often claims.
"In some cases, we lose trade and we give them military, where we subsidize them very well," Trump said of certain countries, without mentioning it.
"So we do not just lose the trade, we lose the military." Every US trade protection will be done "in a loving and loving way," Trump said. And the end result is that countries "prefer us, and they will respect us more."
Trump's unexpected announcement of last week's tariff plans made him at odds with his Republican counterparts in Congress and with the company's CEO who has long been a supporter of the president's majority. "
There is a lot of concern among Republican senators that this could be a kind of metastasis in a bigger trade war, "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
He added, "There is a high level of concern to meddle in what seems like an economy to take off in every way." Trump was originally scheduled to meet this weekend with a major US company opposing the proposed tariff.
But the meeting was reportedly loaded at the end of Tuesday, following the resignation of Gary Cohn, who left his post as director of the National Economic Council. Cohn's departure has long been rumored, but soon preoccupied with the Trump tariff announcement. As a staunch supporter of free trade, Cohn is the highest White House official who openly opposes Trump's tariff plan.