Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream that the Trump administration had multiple options to justify tariffs.
The United States Court of International Trade (CIT) issued a ruling blocking some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a stay on the ruling Thursday. Lutnick said Trump had “many other authorities” he could use to impose tariffs. (RELATED: ‘We Cut It In Half?!’: CNBC Editor Floored By How Much Trade Deficit Was Slashed In Wake Of Trump’s Tariffs)
“Congress gives the president, under this IEEPA authority the ability to take on other countries who are creating a national emergency and the $1.2 trillion trade deficit and all the underlying implication implications of that is a national emergency, it is getting our manufacturing base, the president takes that on and Congress lets him do it,” Lutnick told Bream on Sunday. “Specifically does not vote to take it away. Calls a vote and says he can keep this. What is going to happen is we will take that up to higher courts. The president will win like he always does.”
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“But rest assured, tariffs are not going away,” Lutnick continued. “He has so many other authorities that even in the weird and unusual circumstance where this is taken away, we just bring on another or another or another. Congress has given this authority to the president and he will use it.”
Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs via an April 9 post to Truth Social that also announced substantial increases on tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States — a week after he initially unveiled the duties on imports. Trump later announced a reduction of tariffs on Chinese goods after negotiations in Geneva led by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
Lutnick said that while recent court rulings caused a brief hiccup in trade negotiations with major trading partners, the countries had come back “to the table.”
“As I said, not only does he have this authority under IEEPA, but he has many, many other authorities. The European Union sent in after this their first offer, so they are at the table and negotiating and you can’t listen to silly people making silly comments,” Lutnick said. “All of the countries that are negotiating with us understand the power of Donald Trump and his ability to protect the American worker and so what they are doing is negotiating with us. I think it cost us a week, maybe, but then everybody came right back to the table.”
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