AsianFin -- U.S. President Donald Trump defended his decision to impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports, saying Beijing may end up shouldering the costs rather than passing them on to American consumers.

“China probably will eat those tariffs,” Trump told ABC News on Tuesday, arguing the economic penalties were justified. “They were making $1 trillion a year ripping us off — like nobody’s ever done before. That’s over now.”

While acknowledging that his sweeping 145% tariffs on a wide range of Chinese products resemble a near-embargo, Trump dismissed concerns of negative effects on U.S. consumers.