Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Trump Defends Threats of Tariffs, Saying 'Trade Wars are Good'

by VOA News

   President Donald Trump Friday defended his threat to impose steep
   tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, saying potential trade conflicts
   can be beneficial to the United States.

   "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 wrote in a post on Twitter. "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!"

   Trump's planned tariffs, announced a day earlier, sparked concerns of a
   trade war, with emerging markets trading lower and some world leaders
   threatening to take retaliatory measures.

   Stock market impact
   Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a more than two-week low on
   Friday. The Nikkei ended 2.5 percent lower to 21,181.64 points, its
   lowest closing since February 14.

   "Automakers will have to bear the cost, and they may also have to raise
   prices while auto sales are already sluggish," said Takuya Takahashi, a
   strategist at Daiwa Securities. "This isn't looking good to the auto
   sector."

   China on Friday expressed "grave concern'' about the apparent U.S.
   trade policy, but had no immediate response to Trump's announcement.

   European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker denounced Trump's
   trade plan as "a blatant intervention to protect U.S. domestic
   industry." He said the EU would take retaliatory measures, it Trump
   implements his plan.

   Canada said it would "take responsive measures" to protect its trade
   interests and workers, if the restrictions are imposed on its steel and
   aluminum products.

   Trump said Thursday the tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent
   on aluminum imports will be in effect for a long period of time. He
   said the measure will be signed "sometime next week."

   The trade war talk had stocks closing sharply lower on Wall Street.

   Car industry
   The American International Automobile Dealers Association said Trump's
   tariff plans would increase prices "substantially."

   "This is going to have fallout on our downstream suppliers,
   particularly in the automotive, machinery and aircraft sectors," said
   Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official. "What benefits one industry
   can hurt another. What saves one job can jeopardize another," she said.

   White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president's
   decision "shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone." She said Trump had
   talked about the trade plans "for decades."

   Not all of Trump's fellow Republican politicians agreed with his trade
   war talk.

   Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said, "You'd expect a policy this bad
   from a leftist administration, not a supposedly Republican one."

   A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan said the House majority leader
   hoped the president would "consider the unintended consequences of this
   idea and look at other approaches before moving forward."

   In a Twitter post Thursday, Trump said, "(O)ur Steel and Aluminum
   industries (and many others) have been decimated by decades of unfair
   trade and bad policy with countries from around the world." He
   continued, "We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken
   advantage of any longer. We want free, fair and SMART TRADE!"

   At a Thursday meeting, President Trump said the NAFTA trade pact and
   the World Trade Organization have been disasters for the United States.
   He asserted that the rise of China economically "was directly equal to
   the date of the opening of the World Trade Organization."

   Trump told officials from steel and aluminum companies that the United
   States "hasn't been treated fairly by other countries, but I don't
   blame the other countries."

   In 2017, Canada, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico accounted for nearly
   half of all U.S. steel imports. That year, Chinese steel[1] accounted
   for less than 2 percent of overall U.S. imports.

References

   1. http://ttps://www.trade.gov/steel/countries/pdfs/imports-us.pdf