Donald Trump says 'trade wars are good' after announcing tough steel tariffs

Battles 'easy to win', claims US President

Donald Trump announced his administration will impose a 25 per cent levy on steel and a 10 per cent duty on aluminium (Reuters)

Donald Trump has said ”trade wars are good and easy to win”, amid consternation at his plans to introduce tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

Mr Trump announced on Thursday his administration will impose a 25 per cent levy on steel and a 10 per cent duty on aluminium as early as next week.

The US’ main trading partners reacted angrily to the announcement, with Canada and the EU vowing to introduce their own countermeasures to the new tariffs.

Mexico, China and Brazil also said they were considering retaliatory steps.

“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,” Mr Trump said in a Twitter post.

“Example, when we are down $100bn with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”

Mr Trump has said the tariffs will safeguard American jobs, but many economists say the impact of price increases for users of steel and aluminum, such as the auto and oil industries, will destroy more jobs than curbs on imports create.

Fears of an escalating trade war triggered selloffs on Wall Street and in Asia and Europe, hitting the share prices of steelmakers and manufacturers supplying US markets particularly hard.

Mr Trump said in a later tweet the US would introduce reciprocal taxes.

“When a country Taxes our products coming in at, say, 50 per cent, and we tax the same product coming into our country at ZERO, not fair or smart,” he said.

“We will soon be starting RECIPROCAL TAXES so that we will charge the same thing as they charge us. $800 Billion Trade Deficit-have no choice!”

Australia’s trade minister said the measures risked triggering retaliation from other economies and could cost jobs, while China expressed “grave concern” about the policy and predicted harm to trade if other countries followed the example of the United States.