Peter Navarro Spars With CNN’s Sciutto: ‘Astonished CNN Would Quote the Koch Brothers’ on Tariffs

CNN’s Jim Sciutto and White House National Trade Director Peter Navarro locked horns on Wednesday as they discussed President Donald Trump‘s plans regarding tariffs and immigration.

As the conversation got underway for Trump’s promise to place import taxes on goods from Mexico, Sciutto cited objections from several conservative figures while explaining that Americans will bear the costs of Trump’s tariffs. Navarro argued that that argument was “exactly wrong” as he drew a comparison to Trump’s trade war with China, but Sciutto continued to grill him with “How is that wrong? American companies have to pay the tariffs on the goods they import and they pass those costs on to consumers.”

Navarro said tariffs would impact China by forcing them to lower prices, which would supposedly lead to decreases in their exports, profits, and intake of foreign investments. He also said “it is nonsense” that the burden will be placed on Americans, citing “virtually zero impact on price inflation” since those tariffs went into effect.

Sciatto countered that importers are reporting price increases for the products they’ve received, and its only a matter of time before American producers pass the brunt of that cost onto consumers. From there, Navarro shifted the debate to immigration “national emergency of unprecedented proportions,” saying “100,000 people on any given day [are ]moving on a conveyor belt” to the U.S., and Trump’s tariffs are his way of getting Mexico to do something.

The conversation really started to heat up when Sciutto said the administration is relying on consumers not taking on the costs of tariffs, and he asked Navarro if producers are “lying when they say they’re paying the tariffs?” Navarro countered that “the Mexican government makes money off illegal immigration” so tariffs would force them to internalize those costs

As Navarro tried to turn the interview to the question of whether America’s immigration situation is a crisis, Sciutto tried to keep the conversation focused by asking if he accepts that tariffs are paid by the importer, not the exporter. The CNN host cited Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the Koch brothers on this, but Navarro laughed and responded: “I’m astonished CNN would quote the Koch Brothers as a reliable source.”

Watch above, via CNN.

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