Trump Advisors Struggle To Defend, or Even Explain, His Tariff Strategy
President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs went into effect over the weekend, imposing a 10 percent tax on imports from nearly every nation on the planet. (Additional higher tariffs on a subset of countries will go into effect Wednesday.) The U.S. stock market then plunged, seeing its worst week since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst two-day drop in history, with the market losing $6.6 trillion in value. Asian markets similarly saw precipitous declines when they opened this week.
As Trump’s advisors took to the Sunday morning talk shows to defend their boss’ plan, one thing became clear: There was no plan.
“Are these tariffs permanent? Or are they a negotiating tactic?” Kristen Welker asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Meet the Press. “Some administration officials have said they’re permanent. President Trump himself has said he’s open to negotiating.”
Bessent hedged that this would be Trump’s decision, but he added that the president had “created maximum leverage for himself, and more than 50 countries have approached the administration” about renegotiating.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, agreed. He told ABC, “I got a report from the [Office of the U.S. Trade Representative] last night that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation.”
But that wasn’t the message every advisor was offering.
“This is not a negotiation,” White House trade advisor Peter Navarro told Fox News. “This is a national emergency based on a trade deficit that’s gotten out of control because of cheating.”
“There is no postponing” the tariffs, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS. “They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks.” When asked about the other advisors’ claims that 50 countries had offered to negotiate, Lutnick replied, “The tariffs are coming. He announced it, and he wasn’t kidding.”
If Trump’s advisors aren’t sure what the policy is, that may be because Trump himself hasn’t kept his story straight. On Thursday, Trump told reporters that the new trade barriers “give
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