El presidente Donald Trump defendió el martes los aranceles de su administración antes de las elecciones intermedias de noviembre, y dijo en una entrevista con "Fox & Friends" que los gravámenes están llevando "una fortuna" a Estados Unidos.

Trump hizo estos comentarios mientras su administración se prepara para imponer nuevos aranceles de 10% y 12.5% a importaciones procedentes de 60 socios comerciales a partir del viernes, cuando expire un arancel global temporal.

"Are you worried that the tariffs that you put forward over the last couple of days will hurt the economy as they adjust in bringing manufacturing home?" preguntó el presentador Brian Kilmeade.

"No, because it's bringing hundreds of billions of dollars," respondió Trump. "I was at General Motors yesterday. They have the best year. They have the most trucks, the most cars. The tariffs have saved General Motors. What I've done to the auto business, what I've done to the chip business. We have chip companies now making, building hundreds of billions of dollars worth of chip plants in Arizona."

"We are going to end up with 40 to 50% of the chip business from nothing in a year and a half from now," añadió el presidente.

Trump también dijo: "It's a shame that I have to go a harder way for the tariffs because the Supreme Court, in a very close decision, you know, ruled against me."

La Corte Suprema anuló en febrero los aranceles "recíprocos" de Trump, de 10% a 50%, que se habían impuesto el año pasado. En respuesta, Trump implementó un arancel global temporal de 10% bajo la Sección 122 de la Trade Act of 1974, que vence a las 12:01 a.m. ET del viernes.

La Office of the U.S. Trade Representative anunció el jueves que los nuevos aranceles, impuestos bajo la Sección 301 de la Trade Act of 1974, entrarán en vigor inmediatamente después de que expiren los gravámenes temporales.

Canadá, México, India y el Reino Unido figuran entre los socios comerciales que afrontarán un arancel de 10%. Taiwán y la Unión Europea, por su parte, tienen previsto enfrentar un arancel de 12.5%.

"Now I have other ways of doing the same thing. But it's a more cumbersome process, you know, the way of doing it. But the tariffs have made this country a fortune," dijo Trump. "It made the country rich. And I stopped eight wars, I would say five of them because of tariffs. The threat of tariffs stopped India and Pakistan from going into a nuclear war. The threat of tariffs stopped numerous other countries from going to war. These tariffs — it's the greatest thing. And only the really smart people or the people that are nonpolitical and that get it, talk about it. The Democrats know how good it's been."

"We have the hottest car business. We're right now building more car plants than at any time in our history. Toyota just left Mexico. They're building, they just announced, they're building a $12 billion worth of plants in the United States," dijo Trump. "All because they want to avoid tariffs. They have no tariffs if they build their product here."

La administración Trump decidió no extender el U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) y, en cambio, buscará acuerdos comerciales independientes con Canadá y México.

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Cuando se le preguntó el martes si buscaba actualizar el USMCA, Trump dijo: "I don't care. I mean I don't really want to, I'd rather have, I'd rather be independent. Here's the thing. Mexico and Canada need us. We don't need them. The deal is important for them. It's not important for us."

FOX Business’ Michael Sinkewicz, Eric Revell, Edward Lawrence and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.