Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNN host Pamela Brown on Thursday that President Donald Trump will not rescind his tariffs until other countries make concessions.
On Wednesday, Trump unveiled reciprocal tariffs on all foreign nations to address trade imbalances with the United States.
Brown, on “The Situation Room,” repeatedly questioned Lutnick about what it would take for Trump to withdraw the tariffs, with the commerce secretary explaining that the president is no longer open to negotiations and demands action from other countries.
“So the European Union and China, they have already vowed to retaliate,” Brown said. “At what point would the administration consider pulling back on tariffs, especially on those 10% across-the-board tariffs? Where is the room for negotiation?”
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“I don’t think there’s any chance that President Trump’s going to back off his tariffs. This is the reordering of global trade, right? That’s what’s going to happen,” Lutnick asserted. “But the world should stop exploiting the United States of America. Let our farmers sell their products, let our ranchers sell their products.”
The commerce secretary also said the goal of the tariffs is to help American workers thrive, construct factories and increase exports. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday, citing industries he wanted to see return to America, such as pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding, automobiles and machine tools.
“You can’t really fight with the United States,” Lutnick added. “We are the customer of the world.”
Brown asked again about the potential for Trump to remove his tariffs.
“I want to just be very clear here because allies and adversaries alike are looking at everything you’re saying right now about whether there’s room to negotiate on these tariffs before they announce what they’re going to do,” she said. “What I hear from you is that there isn’t room for negotiation. Is that right? You said the president won’t back off.”
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“What I said very clearly, the president is not going to back off,” Lutnick repeated.
Brown asked whether anything could cause Trump to withdraw.
“Countries can fix their tariffs, their non-tariff trade barriers, which are much, much rougher,” Lutnick said, adding, “America has got to stop being exploited. And you’re going to see America prosper. And then, and only then will Donald Trump make a deal with each country when they’ve really, really changed their ways.”
The CNN host characterized Lutnick’s remarks as indicating Trump may eventually “back off,” but Lutnick said she misunderstood.
“That’s not ‘back off.’ That is let the deal maker make his deals when and only if these countries can change everything about themselves, which I doubt they will because the VAT [value-added tax] is the VAT.”
Brown asked whether Trump is currently “willing to negotiate.”
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“Negotiate is talking. No talking, doing. These countries have abused us and exploited us as he said yesterday,” Lutnick clarified. “They need to change their ways. Let’s see them change their ways. It’s going to be a long time. Let’s see what they do. Not talking. Talking is nonsense.”
Brown also asserted Trump has a “history of making threats and then backing off.”
“Why should foreign leaders think he’ll stand firm this time?” she asked.
“Donald Trump is going to stand firm because he is reordering global trade,” Lutnick responded.
He also warned that if other countries retaliate, the U.S. will prevail.
“If you’re angry and you fight back to the greatest customer in the world, you’re going to lose,” the commerce secretary said. “We are the sumo wrestler of this world. We are the biggest economy, the biggest customer. You can’t fight back against your customer.”
In addition to the 10% baseline tariffs issued by Trump, each reciprocal tariff is roughly half of what other nations are charging the United States.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
