President Donald Trump remained defiant about his newly enacted tariffs despite retaliatory actions announced by China Friday.
He shared his disappointment in China, suggesting they should have acted earlier to make a deal.
‘China played it wrong, they panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday morning.
China announced Friday they would impose reciprocal 34 percent tariffs on all imports from the United States, after Trump leveled a 34 percent additional tariff on Chinese goods on Wednesday.
China’s State Council Tariff Commission defied Trump’s decision to level tariffs as ‘typical unilateral bullying practice,’ from the United States that was ‘not in line with international trade rules.’
Trump urged more companies to react to the tariffs by investing in the United States.
‘To the many investors coming into the United States and investing massive amounts of money, my policies will never change. this is a great time to get rich, richer than ever before!!!’ he wrote on social media.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 1,679 points, nearly four percent and the Nasdaq declined almost six percent. The S&P 500 also fell 4.8 percent.
Trump dismissed the steep stock market losses on Thursday, suggesting it was the product of the global economy healing itself.
‘The operation’s over, and now we let it settle in,’ he said to reporters on Air Force One.
He continued by comparing the economy to a sick patient that had just concluded emergency surgery.
‘It’s to be expected, this is a patient that was very sick, we inherited a terrible economy as you know, with a lot of problems including the loss of manufacturing and plants closed up all over the country,’ he said.
He pointed out that the United States had lost 90,000 manufacturing plants since the 1990’s when the NAFTA trade deal was put into effect.
‘It was a sick patient, it went through an operation on liberation day and it’s going to be a booming country, a very booming country it’s going to be amazing actually,’ he replied.
Trump urged more companies to build their manufacturing plants in the United States.
‘I think it’s going to work out,’ he said. ‘Remember there are no tariffs if you build your plant or you build and make your product in the U.S.’
The president also trumpeted news of the strong job numbers for the month of Febraury, pointing to the unexpected jump of 228,000 jobs created last month
‘Great job numbers, far better than expected. it’s already working,’ he wrote on social media. ‘Hang tough, we can’t lose!!!’