White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Friday that it should be simple for the U.S. to win any and all trade wars it gets into as long as President Trump is in charge.
Sanders was asked at Friday’s briefing whether it will really be “easy” to win the trade war the U.S. appears to be entering with China.
“I think the president feels like if he is in charge of those negotiations, absolutely,” she replied. “He’s the best negotiator at the table, and we certainly have full confidence in his ability to help move things forward.”
The U.S. has threatened tariffs on $150 billion worth of Chinese imports, and China has threatened to retaliate, and both of those threats have helped to sink global equities markets.
The White House has said the initial proposal to impose tariffs is not a final decision, and said it’s still possible that negotiations might eliminate the need for tariffs.
But Sanders said no negotiations have started yet.
“Currently, we’re in routine contact, but this is a negotiation period,” she said. “That’s why it doesn’t happen immediately, and there’s a process, and we’re going through that process.”
