President Trump insisted Wednesday that reciprocal threats of tariffs on U.S. and Chinese goods doesn’t mean the two trade superpowers are in a trade war, because the U.S. lost the trade war against China years ago.

“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!”