Trump answered journalists' questions during a press conference held in the Oval Office.
When asked why he ended trade negotiations with Canada and what level of tariffs he planned to impose, Trump said:
"Economically, we have tremendous power over Canada. I would have preferred not to use it, but they did something very bad to our tech companies by trying to copy Europe — the digital services tax. This won't be good for Europe, and it won't be good for Canada. It was foolish of them to do this. That’s why I said we would halt all negotiations with Canada until they get their act together."
When asked what Canada could do to make him change his mind, Trump replied, "They imposed a very heavy tax on American companies. I guess they could remove it. They will remove it — but it doesn’t matter to me. We hold all the cards."
"If someone is going to impact U.S. companies, it should be us"
Trump claimed that the European Union was established to "take advantage" of the U.S. in trade, and argued that while the EU had treated the U.S. badly for years, it treated him well "because I understand the system."
He said the EU had refused to negotiate trade deals until he threatened a 50% customs duty: "As soon as I said that, they came to the table."
Trump accused the EU of imposing highly unfair taxes, suing American companies, and issuing financial penalties.
"I don’t want them affecting U.S. companies. If anyone is going to impact a U.S. company, it should be us — and if there’s a fine to be paid, it should be to us. The EU is terrible, no doubt about it, but they’re going to learn very soon not to be so terrible. They know it’s coming," he said.
"I’d love for Powell to resign"
Continuing his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Trump said, "If he wants to, I’d love for him to resign — he’s done a terrible job."
Trump said they had accomplished a lot in a short time on inflation and claimed there was almost no inflation in the country.
Speaking again about Powell, Trump said, "There’s a man who, with the stroke of a pen, could lower interest rates and save us hundreds of billions of dollars a year — but he’s a fool."
Trump said some countries were paying far lower interest rates than the U.S. and continued:
"But we’ve got a stubborn mule and a fool who made a big mistake. He made a mistake that’s been going on for years. Whoever replaces him will lower the rates. If I think someone’s going to keep the rates where they are, I won’t appoint them. I’ll bring in someone who wants to cut rates. There are plenty of them out there."
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