Trump Commerce Secretary Says Tariffs Are ‘Worth It’ Even If There’s a Recession
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick vigorously defended President Donald Trump’s tariffs, going so far as to say that even if there’s a recession, they will have been worth it.
Trump has authored an exhausting saga dating back to Feb. 1, when he first announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which he subsequently delayed, imposed, and scaled back somewhat. On Tuesday, he announced that he would double the existing tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel before stating hours later that, no, he “probably” won’t do that. The backtracking came after Ontario Premier Doug Ford suspended a looming 25% energy surcharge to American customers after Lutnick agreed to trade talks.
Not surprisingly, the on-again, off-again trade war with the country’s two largest trading partners has been received poorly by markets and the business world more broadly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has shed seven percent since Trump announced tariffs on Feb. 1.
“The markets are going to learn, let the dealmaker make his deals,” Lutnick told CBS Evening News on Tuesday. When CBS News White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes asked Lutnick “what is being accomplished” by ephemeral tariffs, he said it’s all part of a negotiating strategy.
“When you’re negotiating with someone and they’re not paying attention, and they are disagreeing, the president – who’s the best dealmaker ever to sit in that chair – is going to say, ‘Here’s my response.’ And then all of a sudden, shockingly, they respond.”
“Will these policies be worth it if they lead to a recession, even a short-term recession?” Cordes asked.
“These policies are the most important thing America has ever had,” he responded.
“So, it is worth it?” she asked.
“It is worth it,” Lutnick answered. “The only reason there could possibly be a recession is because of the Biden nonsense that we had to live with. These policies produce revenues.”
The secretary denied that Trump’s policies are “chaotic” and, for good measure, said anyone who thinks so is “silly.”
A recession occurs when there are at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Watch above via CBS News.
