Trump: We are not in a trade war with China

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. is not in a trade war with China because America lost that war decades 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. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion,” the president posted to Twitter. “We cannot let this continue!”

The tweet comes as China threatened to add tariffs to over 100 U.S. products, mainly agriculture, autos and aircraft, in response to $50 billion in tariffs the administration is expected to put on Chinese medical, aerospace and technology imports into the United States.

“The administration is rightly focused on restoring equity and fairness in our trade relationship with China,” said the executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Myron Brilliant

Neither the U.S. or China tariffs have hard start dates and are likely negotiating tactics ahead of what some predict will be bilateral trade talks between the two economic powerhouses.