Washington DC [US], April 7 : Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House Economic Council, defended the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs on Sunday (local time) and said that while many countries are upset and retaliating, the tariffs have led to over 50 countries reaching out to the US to begin new trade negotiations.
Hassett made the remarks during an appearance on ABC News' "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos.
"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," Hassett told ABC News.
On April 2, Trump announced a widespread imposition of tariffs on countries worldwide. In February, soon after taking charge for the second time, Trump outlined a new trade policy focused on fairness and reciprocity and said that the US would implement reciprocal tariffs, charging other countries the same tariffs they impose on American goods.
Trump emphasised that tariffs would address unfair trade practices, including non-monetary barriers, subsidies, and VAT systems, while encouraging foreign countries to either reduce or eliminate tariffs against the US.
As per the announcements, the import tariffs on other major countries are China (34 per cent), the European Union (20 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent), Taiwan (32 per cent), Japan (24 per cent), India (26 per cent), the United Kingdom (10 per cent), Bangladesh (37 per cent), Pakistan (29 per cent), Sri Lanka (44 per cent), and Israel (17 per cent).
From April 9 onwards, countries with the largest trade deficits with the US will face higher, individualised tariffs. India is one of the countries affected, with a 26 per cent tariff imposed on all its exports.
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