Washington _ Agencies
US President Donald Trump Saturday defended his controversial policy of imposing tariffs against China and other countries, saying the trade measures "are yielding much better than expected."
"The drawings have had a positive impact on our steel industry," he said, adding: "The factories are opening up all over the United States, the steel workers have returned to work again, and the money is flowing into our treasury."
"The increase in fees will make our country richer than it is today," said Trump in another tweet, noting that only the insane people will oppose this, explaining that China´s economic performance is weak for the first time.
The US president´s tweets came amid a new escalation of trade tension with China.
Earlier this week, Trump asked his top business advisors to study whether the tariffs on Chinese goods worth up to 200 billion dollars should be lifted from 10 percent as planned to 25 percent.
China then threatened to impose an extra charge on US $60 billion worth of cargo, which was considered by White House economic advisor Larry Cobucket as "a weak response."
In the context, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that his country´s threat was "fully justified and necessary."
"As to whether or not China´s economy is doing well, I think everything is very clear to the entire international community," he said in a speech on the sidelines of a conference on security in Singapore, adding that China has contributed significantly to global economic growth.
