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Trump defends tariffs, says 'trade wars are good'

Trump defends tariffs, says 'trade wars are good'
Posted at 6:35 AM, Mar 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-02 06:35:07-05

President Donald Trump argued Friday that trade wars can be good, even though his promise of steel and aluminum tariffs rattled markets.

"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 on Twitter.

He added, "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 plan, announced on Thursday, will impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum. The announcement caught investors off guard and immediately raised concerns about retaliation from China or other major US trading partners.