President Donald Trump reassured Americans on Tuesday he was confident that the United States would win the trade fight with China, citing the strength of the American economy.
“We’re having a little squabble with China because we’ve been treated very unfairly for many many decades … it should have been handled a long time ago, and it wasn’t and we’ll handle it now,” Trump said, referring to past presidents.
The president commented on the ongoing fight as he left the White House for a speech in Louisiana.
Trump said he was confident that China would come back to the table for a deal after he raised tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese products.
“A lot of strength is being shown, this has never happened to China before, our economy is fantastic; there’s is not so good,” he said.
Trump again claimed a very strong relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said that the dialogue with China would continue despite the punishing tariffs on both sides.
He noted that the United States purchased more products from China than China purchased from the United States, giving him an advantage.
“We have all the advantage, it’s a very small factor for us,” he said about the tariffs.
He urged suppliers to purchase goods from other countries or manufacture their products in the United States to avoid tariffs.
“Our people if they want, they can buy from someplace else other than China or they can, really the ideal, is make their product in the USA, that’s what I really want,” he said.
When he was asked by a reporter if he believed he could win the trade war, he responded confidently, “You know what? You want to know something? We always win.”
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