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- President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Dow Jones industrial average would be 10,000 points higher without the trade war with China.
- "But someone had to do it," he told reporters. "For me, it's much more important than the economy."
- On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up less than 1% at 26,345.
- Visit the Markets Insider homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Dow Jones industrial average would be several thousand points higher without the trade war with China, which he had started last year to try to rectify business practices, which has disavowed the United States.
"Let me tell you that if I did not want to do anything with China, my stock market, our stock market would be 10,000 points higher than what it currently is," Trump told reporters. "But someone had to do it for me, it's much more important than the economy … it was out of control, they were out of control."
Although the Dow has risen more than 1,000 points since Trump announced tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum – including metals from China – it suffered some significant setbacks these last months. On Wednesday, the Dow rose 0.9% to 26,355.47.
Beyond the stock market, the trade war also weighed on the global economy, causing a slowdown threatening to sink the United States into recession.
Read more: Here's a timeline of everything that has happened in the commercial war up to now
The Trump administration has struggled in the past year to obtain concessions from China on key issues, ranging from intellectual property theft to an enforcement mechanism. Both parties increased rates on their respective products Sunday and have doubled their plans for further escalation.
US negotiators have been in contact with their Chinese counterparts as recently as last week, according to the White House, but Trump did not say Wednesday whether an in-person meeting would be held this month.
"We'll see what happens," said Trump. "If they want to make a deal, they're going to make a deal – they do not want to make a deal, that's fine."
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