President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his trade policy, taking to Twitter to proclaim that “tariffs are the greatest” especially for countries which treat the United States unfairly.
Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that – and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
He noted nations are now coming to Washington to negotiate after having treated the U.S. “unfairly on trade for years.”
Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate. This should have taken place many years ago but,
as the saying goes, better late than never!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
Trump’s tweets comes as China rebutted America’s views of China’s trade practices as “wrong”. In a speech at the US Department of Commerce on Monday, The U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on July 16 claimed that China’s average tariffs on US goods are three times higher than US tariffs on Chinese goods, across every industry.
China later offered a direct, sharp rebuttal to various claims made by US Vice President Mike Pence regarding China’s trade practices, calling out Pence for his wrong accusations, urging him to read a history book on China’s technological development and warning the US of global retaliation for its trade protectionism.
Pence had warned that If China “refuses” to level the playing field and continues to retaliate against the US, “their leaders should know (that) America will not back down.”