Washington:
US President Donald Trump on Monday pledged to embrace trade wars and pledged tariffs and taxes on other countries in a nationalist inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th president.
“I will immediately begin overhauling our trade system to protect American workers and families,” he said at the U.S. Capitol.
“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump added.
Since his election victory in November, Trump has targeted both allies and adversaries, raising the prospect of new tariffs to push other countries to take a tougher line on US concerns.
Before returning to the White House, Trump pledged to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, and another 10 percent on Chinese goods, if they clamp down on illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
During his campaign, Trump also floated the idea of much higher tariffs on Chinese imports.
But Trump on Monday stopped short of unveiling new tariffs, which will be applied to imported goods when a U.S. buyer buys them from abroad.
In his speech, he reiterated his plan to set up an 'External Revenue Service' to collect tariffs, excise taxes and revenues, in addition to establishing a 'Department of Government Efficiency' with the aim of cutting federal spending.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)