President Donald Trump Friday defended his pro-American trade policies by declaring that "I am not an isolationist" at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"I don't believe in an isolationist policy," the president told reporters at the White House. "But I also believe that a policy of trade should be a fair policy.
"The United States has been treated very, very unfairly by many countries over the years — and that is going to stop.
"I am not an isolationist," Trump continued. "I'm a free-trader, but I am also a fair-trader."
The president cited such accords as NAFTA as examples that "free-trade has led to a lot of bad things happening.
"Look at the deficits we have, look at all of the accumulation of debt. We are a very powerful country — and we are a very strong, very strong country."
But Merkel called for global trade policies that "ought to be shaped in an open-minded wake, but also in a very fair way.
"Freedom of movement within the European Union, for example, is a very important element of our economic progress, of peace — and has been for many, many decades.
"We have to protect our external borders," she added. "There we have to work on the basis of mutual benefit."
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