Trump says possible pain from tariffs "worth the price"

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that America may feel economic pain due to his tariffs on key trading partners.

However, he argued that it would be "worth the price" in order to secure U.S. interests.

Lee Seung-jae reports.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday imposed a 25-percent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, while China was hit with an additional 10-percent tariff on the various existing duty rates.

The tariffs are expected to be met with retaliatory measures from the affected countries, and are also expected to lead to higher inflation.

Economists also predict that the ensuing trade war would likely slow U.S. growth.

However, Trump says while the Americans may feel the economic "pain" from his tariffs, it would be "worth the price" in order to secure U.S. interests.

Taking to his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, he said the tariffs will "Make America Great Again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid."

Meanwhile, in a separate post, the U.S. president reiterated his call for Canada to become a U.S. state.

He claimed that the U.S. pays "hundreds of billions of dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada," adding that Canada would "cease to exist as a viable Country" without the subsidy.

With this, he called on Canada to become a "Cherished 51st State," promising that such a move would lead to lower taxes, better military protection and no tariffs.

The cryptocurrency market responded negatively to the news of Trump's tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China over the weekend.

According to U.S.-based exchange Coinbase as of 7 AM Korea Standard Time, the price of bitcoin stood at just over 97-thousand-200 U.S. dollars.

The price of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, hovered above 100 thousand U.S. dollars before the tariffs went into effect on Saturday.

According to cryptocurrency media outlet CoinDesk, the renewed trade war could aggravate inflation in the U.S., and make it difficult for the U.S. Fed to cut interest rates.

It added that the weakness in the bitcoin price reflects such concerns, sending a signal to the market to avoid risky assets.

On the other hand, spot gold price surpassed 28 hundred U.S. dollars per ounce on Friday, with investors opting to buy safer assets.

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.