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President Trump said Friday he understands that there will be short-term pain from his China tariffs, but said he is more concerned with long-term strength.

Speaking on New York's WABC radio, Trump defended his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, along with other Chinese goods.

"I'm not saying there won’t be a little pain. So we may take a hit, and you know what, ultimately we're going to be much stronger for it, but it's something we ought to do," said Trump.

China responded with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products and vowed to "immediately fight back with force and without hesitation."

The stock market continues to react negatively to the perceived trade war, though Trump has said any trade war with China was lost long ago by his White House predecessors.

China, which is a great economic power, is considered a Developing Nation within the World Trade Organization. They therefore get tremendous perks and advantages, especially over the U.S. Does anybody think this is fair. We were badly represented. The WTO is unfair to U.S. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2018

We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 4, 2018

The president reiterated that he's committed to doing things that other presidents refused to do.

"That's what I'm all about. We have to do things that other people wouldn't do," he said in the interview.

Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt said Friday this strategy is risky going into the midterm elections.

"Voters do not do 'pain.' Voters always vote for sweetness and light," he argued.

Watch the clip above and check out Neil Cavuto challenging White House adviser Larry Kudlow on the trade war.

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