Trump Tweets: 'Trade Wars Are Good'

President Donald Trump, in the wake of controversy over his plan to impose heavy tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports, posted on Twitter early Friday that trade wars are "good, and easy to win."

"When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win," the president tweeted. "Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!"

He continued firing of tweets through the day.

On Thursday, Trump said he plans next week to impose stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, following what he called several decades of unfair trade policies.

"What's been allowed to go on for decades is disgraceful. It's disgraceful," Trump said during a meeting in the Cabinet Room with several steel and aluminum executives. "You will have protection for the first time in a long while and you're going to regrow your industries."

The tariffs of 25 percent for steel imports and 10 percent for aluminum will last for "a long period of time."

Critics of Trump's plan say the move will create fears that other countries could retaliate with trade penalties of their own, and that the tariffs will hurt U.S. industries, including automakers, that use steel and aluminum

House Speaker Paul Ryan's spokesman Thursday told The Hill hat the speaker believes the move could create "unintended consequences," and that he hopes Trump will "look at other approaches before moving forward."

Meanwhile, the stock market took a sharp drop Thursday after the announcement, reports CNBC, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing at 420.22 points lower, after rising more than 150 points earlier in the day.

The S&P 500 also dropped by 1.4 percent, erasing year-to-date gains, with industrials as the worst-performing sector. Tha Nasdaq composite also dropped 1.3 percent below its 100-day moving average.

"That could really spook the market," said Marc Chaikin, CEO of Chaikin Analytics, told CNBC of Trump's plans. "The biggest wildcard would be a trade war and nobody should be excited for that."

• GOP Sen. Sasse: Trump Trade Tariffs Will Be 'Disastrous'
• IMF's Lagarde Says China Needs to Do More to Cut Steel Capacity