President Donald Trump said that if the United States still had high prices on foreign imports in a year, he would consider it a “total victory”.
Trump comments in an interview with the magazine “Time” published Friday on the first 100 days of his mandate, which he will reach on April 30. The interview took place on Tuesday at the White House.
During the interview, which was carried out by the main political correspondent Eric Cortellesa and the chief editor Sam Jacobs, “Time” asked the president if he would consider this as a victory if “high prices, whether 20% or 30%”, “were still in place in a year.
“Total victory,” said Trump, adding, “because the country will make a fortune.”
Trump said that having zero prices “would be easy” but that he would not encourage companies to produce their goods in the United States.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Trump said his radical pricing policy would encourage companies to build and invest in the United States. Prices currently include a universal rate of 10% on most countries and a 145% rate on China. Higher prices on other countries are currently under a 90-day break that Trump announced earlier this month.
Trump’s pricing announcement on April 2 has landed equity prices and financial markets around the world. Although there was a certain recovery, the markets remained volatile while uncertainty around the prices continues.
Trump said he wanted to lower or eliminate American trade deficits with other countries and have been in talks with leaders around the world to conclude trade agreements. He also said that Americans could feel “short -term” pain following prices.
On Tuesday, the same day, Trump gave Time interview, he told the White House journalists that the prices on China “would descend considerably”, but not to zero.
The markets also reacted positively Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal noted that the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that there was a “opportunity” for a big agreement with China.
But Chinese officials have denied saying that Trump that China and the United States were in talks on a trade agreement.
Trump also told “Time” that he had concluded 200 commercial transactions, but from Friday, none had been announced.
He refused to draw up the agreements when asked, but said they would be finished “in the next three to four weeks”.
businessinsider
