“We will be taking in Tens of Billions of Dollars in Tariffs from China. Buyers of product can make it themselves in the USA (ideal), or buy it from non-Tariffed countries,” Trump said on Twitter.

Trump added: “We will then spend (match or better) the money that China may no longer be spending with our Great Patriot Farmers (Agriculture), which is a small percentage of total Tariffs received, and distribute the food to starving people in nations around the world!”

Trump has insisted that China has picked up the tab for his tariff campaign, not American consumers. But prices are up on a host of products as diverse as bicycles, sewing machines and pet supplies, and government data shows U.S. consumers have already had to pay more since the first round of tariffs kicked in last fall.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham) DM