Trump tweets

Trump calls trade wars 'good, and easy to win' amid fallout from steel and aluminum tariffs

March 2, 2018

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Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump's unexpected announcement that he will slap a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum sent the U.S. stock market reeling Thursday, drew retaliatory threats from the European Union and Canada, and earned an expression of "grave concern" from China. On Friday morning, Trump seemed to welcome the financial upheaval.

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

Most economists — including his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn — disagree with the tariffs and idea of a cost-free trade war. The tariffs Trump announced Thursday, during what was supposed to be a listening session with steel and aluminum executives, surprised his staff and haven't even cleared a legal review, The New York Times reports.