Donald Trump has made an unhinged claim that “just about everything” is cheaper in the United States because it has taken in “record” tariff revenue which is helping bring down inflation.
The US President said in a post on his Truth Social platform that products including gasoline and groceries were now more affordable thanks to his tariffs on foreign imports. He claimed: “The United States is taking in RECORD NUMBERS in Tariffs, with the cost of almost all products going down, including gasoline, groceries, and just about everything else. Likewise, INFLATION is down. Promises Made, Promises Kept!” It comes as his tit-for-tat trade war continues with China – who warned Trump to “stop whining” about being a victim after “taking a free ride on the globalisation train”. China Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist party’s (CCP) English-language mouthpiece, published an editorial saying the President was “hoodwinking the US public” by claiming they were being “ripped off” by China.
It read: “The US is not getting ripped off by anybody. The problem is the US has been living beyond its means for decades. It consumes more than it produces.
It has outsourced its manufacturing and borrowed money in order to have a higher standard of living than it’s entitled to based on its productivity.
Rather than being ‘cheated’, the US has been taking a free ride on the globalisation train.”
But Beijing is facing the toughest measures. The US, which raised China’s tariffs to 145%, also tightened export rules, including those on computer chip manufacturing giant Nvidia.
A fact sheet published by the White House on Tuesday said China “now faces up to a 245% tariff”. China’s foreign ministry urged journalists to get answers from the Trump administration over the figure.
Beijing, which raised tariffs on US goods to 125%, is believed to have told airlines to halt ordering Boeing jets and other US aircraft parts.
On Wednesday, state media outlet China Daily said the US “should stop whining about itself being a victim in global trade”.
Trump said in a statement read out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday that the ball was in China’s court, and that they would be the ones who must approach the US with a deal.
“China needs to make a deal with us, we don’t have to make a deal with them,” he said. “China wants what we have… the American consumer.”
Leavitt added: “The President again has made it quite clear that he’s open to a deal with China, but China needs to make a deal with the United States of America”.
China meanwhile defied Trump’s tariffs with strong first-quarter growth after it was revealed its economy expanded 5.4% in the first quarter, outperforming forecasts.
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