President Donald Trump approved tariffs on imports of washing machines and solar panels on Tuesday, asserting that his actions would help restore American jobs.
“We’re going to benefit our consumers and we’re going to create a lot of jobs,” he said to reporters at the White House. “Our action today helps to create jobs in America for Americans.”
Trump appeared pleased that stocks for companies manufacturing washing machines and solar panels were up after news of the announcement broke. He said that foreign companies like LG and Samsung had promised to build manufacturing plants in the United States as a result of the new tariff.
He said that his actions would “demonstrate to the world that the United States will not be taken advantage of anymore.”
“We’re going to have a lot of plants built in the United States,” he said. “People are coming that would have never come unless we did this.”
The president gave an update on NAFTA, promising again to renegotiate it or kill the deal entirely.
“NAFTA’s moving along pretty well,” he said. “I happen to be of the opinion that if it doesn’t work out, we’ll terminate it… we’ll see how it works out.”