Mr Congeniality: Trump says $200bn China tariffs are better than a ‘phenomenal’ trade deal
US President Donald Trump has issued an impassioned defence of his tariff hike on $200bn worth of Chinese goods, saying they will bring in more wealth than “even a phenomenal” trade deal.
Read more: China threatens retaliation as Trump rolls out $200bn tariff hike
In a series of tweets, Trump said talks with China were continuing in a “congenial” manner and insisted the tariffs would benefit US farmers.
“We have lost 500 Billion Dollars a year, for many years, on Crazy Trade with China. NO MORE!” he wrote.
He added the process to place tariffs of 25 per cent on the remaining $325bn worth of goods had already begun.
The US rolled out the tariff hike after midnight in the latest escalation of a 10-month trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1126809699268141057
Despite this, global markets appeared resilient to the mounting conflict, with European stocks all trading higher.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.36 per cent, while France's Cac rose 0.57 per cent and Germany's Dax climbed 0.86 per cent.
However, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3 per cent and the Dow fell 0.54 per cent, while the Nasdaq Compsotie dropped 0.41 per cent.
Trump added: "Tariffs will make our Country MUCH STRONGER, not weaker. Just sit back and watch! In the meantime, China should not renegotiate deals with the U.S. at the last minute. This is not the Obama Administration, or the Administration of Sleepy Joe, who let China get away with 'murder!'"
Tariffs will make our Country MUCH STRONGER, not weaker. Just sit back and watch! In the meantime, China should not renegotiate deals with the U.S. at the last minute. This is not the Obama Administration, or the Administration of Sleepy Joe, who let China get away with “murder!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019
“Investors are on the edge but a positive breakthrough in talks should send the markets further higher,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com.
Read more: US-China trade deficit falls ahead of crunch negotiations
“However, if the situation remains unclear by the close of play, we might see some panic selling in the closing minutes of today’s North American session.”