Washington, D.C.- Peter Navarro, a trade adviser at the White House, was quite angry over a recent federal appeals court judgment that said most of President Donald Trump’s retaliatory tariffs were illegal. Navarro strongly criticized the verdict, which was a big legal blow to one of the administration’s main economic goals. He said that the tariffs were never meant to be permanent.
Navarro remarked on media, “…but we never claimed these (tariffs) were permanent… You won’t find Lutnick, Bessent, Greer, me, or the President expressing that. This claim goes against the court’s conclusion that the tariffs were too broad and went beyond what the president was allowed to do.
Navarro is a strong backer of Trump’s trade policy and has spoken out against countries that he thinks have been unfair in their trade. He has been very harsh on India, especially because it keeps buying cheap Russian oil. He has said many times that India is making money off the war between Russia and Ukraine. He has also justified the government’s choice to place an extra 25% tariff on Indian imports, which raised the total tax to 50%.
The federal appeals court ruled on Friday, August 29, that the president did not have the legal right to implement the wide-ranging tariffs. The court said the duties may stay in place until mid-October so the administration could appeal. However, Navarro’s comments make it sound like the administration is getting ready for a legal battle. He has dubbed the judges who decided against the tariffs “politicians in black robes” before, and he is hopeful that the Supreme Court will rule in their favor in the end.