WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday insisted “trade wars are good, and easy to win,” a bold claim that will likely find many skeptics, including those on Wall Street and even some Republicans. China has expressed “grave concern.”Early Friday, Trump took to Twitter to defend himself: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. IF YOU DON’T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY!”His announcement came only after an intense internal White House debate. The penalties were pushed by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, an economist who has favoured taking aggressive action.

Source: National Post March 02, 2018 07:18 UTC