Trump says ‘pain’ from China tariffs will make US ‘much stronger’

President Trump says in a new interview that tariffs targeting China over intellectual property theft could cause some “pain” in the U.S. economy, but promised that America would emerge stronger as a result.

“I’m not saying there’s not gonna be any pain,” Trump said Friday in an interview with “Bernie & Sid in the Morning” on 77 WABC in New York City. 

He also acknowledged the initial reaction from markets is likely to be negative. 

They “could lose a little bit,” he said.

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Dow Jones industrial average futures plummeted on Thursday after news broke that Trump has asked officials in the administration to prepare tariffs on another $100 billion of imports from China, escalating a fight with Beijing.

Futures on the index fell 222 points, suggesting the market would open down 271.22 points on Friday, CNBC reported.

A relatively poor jobs report released Friday that found the nation added 103,000 jobs in March is also likely to push markets lower, but Trump said he was not worried about a negative reaction from his move on trade.

“We’re gonna be much stronger for it,” he added later in the interview.

China has responded to the latest round of tariff plans with a statement threatening an all-out trade war.

“We do not want to fight, but we are not afraid to fight a trade war,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. 

Earlier in the week, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president wasn’t worried about the recent market volatility and was instead concerned about “countries that have been taking advantage of us for decades.”

“We may have a little bit of short-term pain, but we’re going to have long-term success,” she told reporters.

Vicki Needham contributed.