US President Welcomes Prospect Trade War with Other Nations

YemenExtra

US President Donald Trump has welcomed the prospect of a trade war with other nations, remaining defiant in the face of global uproar sparked by his announcement to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Trump’s announcement on Thursday angered America’s major trading partners and sent global stock markets tumbling, but the US president greeted the negative reaction on Friday by raising the stakes and vowing even harsher trade policies.

In a blistering series of tweets, Trump said he would seek to impose “reciprocal taxes” on all imports from trading partners that charge tariffs on US exports, adding that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.”

Allowing imports into the US market duty free when similar exports face tariffs is “not fair or smart,” Trump said.

“The import restrictions announced by the US president are likely to cause damage not only outside the US, but also to the US economy itself,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement.