By Abubakar Yunusa
US President Donald Trump told world business leaders Thursday to manufacture in the United States or face tariffs, in his first major speech to global leaders since returning to the White House this week.
Since his inauguration on Monday, Trump has said that Washington could impose steep tariffs on major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China as soon as February 1.
He has also signed a flurry of executive orders, pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organisation.
“Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth,” Trump said on Thursday, speaking remotely to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff,” he added.
In his speech, he added that he believed lower oil prices would help end the war in Ukraine instantly.
“I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil,” referring to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” he said.
“Right now, the price is high enough that that war will continue,” he added.
Trump said he expected to have a “a very good relationship” with China, but stressed that “all we want is fairness.”
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