Ryan Pickrell on April 4, 2018

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the trade war with China was lost many years ago, stressing that the current trade spat with Beijing is not a trade war but an apparent attempt to reduce the serious damage to the American economy.

“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.,” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. “Now, we have a Trade Deficit of $500 billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 billion, We cannot let this continue!”

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 announced tariffs on foreign-made steel and aluminum early last month, leading China to impose tariffs on roughly $3 billion in annual U.S. exports to China.

Towards the end of March, Trump revealed plans to impose punitive trade penalties on Chinese exports in response to alleged Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property and forced technology transfers. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published Tuesday a list of about 1,300 Chinese products, the annual exports for which total around $50 billion.

China responded Wednesday by announcing tariffs on about $50 billion in annual U.S. exports to China. Beijing has warned that while it does not want a trade war, it does not intend to lose one.

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