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US President Donald Trump defended his trade policy as he spoke to reporters in New Jersey before boarding Air Force One on Sunday. He said the country should focus on producing advanced military and technology equipment rather than low-cost consumer items like T-shirts and sneakers.
“I’m not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I’m not looking to make socks. We can do that very well in other locations. We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships,” he said.
“We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to do the AI thing with computers,” the US president added.
Trump said he supported recent remarks made by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had questioned the need for a “booming textile industry”—a comment that drew sharp criticism from the National Council of Textile Organizations.
Speaking to the reporters, Trump also mentioned that he has agreed to extend trade talks with the European Union until July 9 and would delay the imposition of his threatened 50% tariff on EU goods, which was scheduled for June 1 in order to negotiate a deal with the bloc.
This comes reportedly after he had a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who told the US president that she “wants to get down to serious negotiations.”
Trump, who has frequently used tariffs as a tool in his trade strategy, reignited concerns in global markets on Friday by calling for a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union, which was set to take effect from 1 June. He also issued a fresh warning to Apple, suggesting he may impose a 25% tariff on imported iPhones sold to US consumers.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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