Trump tweets U.S. companies 'are hereby ordered' to look into alternatives to China

In response to new tariffs from China, President Trump is making some demands of American companies.

After China announced Friday that it would be hitting the U.S. with tariffs on $75 billion worth of goods next month, Trump tweeted that "our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China." The president is also demanding that business owners "bring ... companies HOME" and make products in the U.S., declaring the situation to actually be "a GREAT opportunity for the United States."

Trump's demand is seemingly more of a strongly-worded suggestion, with The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey noting, "What authority does the president have to order companies to do things?" If Trump has an answer to that question, he might attempt to provide it in a few hours, as he also promises in his tweets that he "will be responding to China's tariffs this afternoon."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The president's initial reaction following the news of China's retaliatory tariffs was to wonder aloud whether Chinese President Xi Jinping or Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was the "bigger enemy" to the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 400 points amid his tweets.