President Donald Trump threw down a gauntlet on trade Saturday, threatening to cut other nations off entirely if they do not eliminate tariffs on U.S. goods, as a testy G7 economic summit wrapped up in Quebec City, Canada.
While praising free trade in theory, Trump demanded an end to tariffs on U.S. goods, which he called “ridiculous and unacceptable.” And he did not hesitate at trying to force other nations’ hands.
“It’s going to stop,” the president told reporters during a press conference. “Or we’ll stop trading with them. And that’s a very profitable answer, if we have to do it.”
“We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing, and that ends,” Trump said later.