Washington DC [US]: White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett defended President Donald Trump’s tariff policies on Sunday, asserting that the measures are prompting dozens of countries to initiate new trade talks with the United States.
Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, Hassett claimed that despite pushback and retaliatory moves from some nations, the tariffs are already creating diplomatic momentum.
“So, the fact is, the countries are angry and retaliating and, by the way, I got a report from the [US Trade Representative] last night that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation. But they are doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff. And so, I don’t think that you are going to see a big effect on the consumer in the US because I do think that the reason why we have a persistent, long-run trade deficit is because these people have a very inelastic supply. They have been dumping goods into the country in order to create jobs, say, in China,” said Hassett.
The comments come in the wake of Trump’s April 2 announcement of a wide-ranging tariff strategy targeting multiple nations. Following his second term inauguration in February, Trump laid out a new trade doctrine rooted in “fairness and reciprocity”, pledging to match tariffs imposed by other nations on American goods.
Trump has maintained that these tariffs are essential to correcting unfair trade practices such as non-tariff barriers, subsidies, and VAT regimes, while encouraging other nations to revise or eliminate their tariffs on US products.
The newly imposed import tariffs on major trading partners include:
- China: 34%
- European Union: 20%
- Vietnam: 46%
- Taiwan: 32%
- Japan: 24%
- India: 26%
- United Kingdom: 10%
- Bangladesh: 37%
- Pakistan: 29%
- Sri Lanka: 44%
- Israel: 17%
Starting April 9, countries with the largest trade deficits with the US will face even higher, individualized tariffs. India is among those most affected, with a 26% tariff now applied to all its exports to the United States.