Trump Officials Send Mixed Messages On Whether Tariffs Are Up for Negotiation During Confusing Sunday Show Hits
The Trump administration’s new tariffs have sparked confusion at home and abroad and they sent markets tumbling on Thursday and Friday.
Framed as a way to right wrongs created by unfair trade practices and to reduce the trade deficit, President Donald Trump said last week they were non-negotiable – until he didn’t.
After the Dow tanked Friday by 2,200 points, CNBC reported, “Trump now says he is open to negotiations, contradicting White House aides who insist the sweeping tariffs are not a bargaining tactic.”
Instead of clarifying things, their answers only added to the uncertainty. Here’s what they each had to say — starting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Meet the Press, who refused to shut the door on the idea that the tariffs could be negotiated, telling moderator Kristen Welker that Trump will ultimately decide whether or not to negotiate.
WELKER: One of the big questions and points of confusion I think is are these tariffs permanent? Or are they a negotiating tactic? Some administration officials have said they’re permanent. President Trump himself has said he’s open to negotiating. So let me just ask you. Is President Trump willing to negotiate? Or are these tariffs permanent?
BESSENT: Well, I think that’s going to be a decision for President Trump. But I can tell you that as only he can do at this moment, he has created maximum leverage for himself. And more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation. And. Kristen, you know, they’ve been bad actors for a long time. And it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks.
Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, on This Week with anchor George Stephanopoulos, echoed the claim from Bessent that more than 50 nations have reached out to the U.S. to strike a deal.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, the president promised all through the campaign that prices would come down right away. Said they’d come down right away. Now he’s saying, hang tough. It won’t be easy.
How high are prices going to go? How long will they stay there?
HASSETT: I actually saw in this story that you just gave, George, there’s kind of like a logical disconnect between the stories – the competing stories that your team is using to attack President Trump.
On the one hand, you’re saying that the countries are really angry, they’re going to have to retaliate. On the other hand, you’re saying that consumers are going to bear the costs and it’s going to drive inflation up. But if U.S. consumers are bearing the cost, there’s no reason for the countries to be angry. So, the fact is, the countries are angry and retaliating and, by the way, coming to the table.
I got a report from the USDR last night that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation. But they’re doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff. And so, I don’t think that you’re going to see a big effect on the consumer in the U.S. because I do think that the reason why we have a persistent, long-run trade deficit these people have very inelastic supply. They’ve been dumping goods into the country in order to create jobs, say, in China.
But whereas Hassett and Bessent kept the door open on negotiations, Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro — on Sunday Morning Futures with Fox News guest host Jackie DeAngelis — completely slammed the door shut.
DEANGELIS: If I can just circle back to Vietnam, then does that mean the tariff stays?
NAVARRO: Yes, I mean, look, here’s the thing, this is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency based on a trade deficit that’s gotten out of control because of cheating.
And Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Face the Nation with anchor Margaret Brennan added this:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, but just to be clear, April 9, the so-called retaliatory tariffs- the reciprocal tariffs, I should say. Are those coming or are they open to negotiation?
LUTNICK: The tariffs are coming. He announced it, and he wasn’t kidding. The tariffs are coming. Of course they are.
Watch above via ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and NBC News.
