On Sunday (May 11), US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that the 10% tariffs newly imposed by various countries globally will be maintained in the long term by the United States. He emphasized having confidence in President Trump’s trade policies and dismissed the “absurd arguments” suggesting that it would lead to inflation and that American consumers would foot the bill for tariffs.
Lutnick, during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Dana Bash, mentioned, “We do expect to maintain the 10% tariffs for the foreseeable future.”
He affirmed, “Our tariffs will not go below 10%. We will not lower them any further.”
President Trump announced the implementation of “Liberation Day” tariff measures on April 2 to reshape the US relationship with global trading partners and address what he perceived as long-standing “unfair trade practices” against the United States.
The new policy levied higher tariffs on all countries, with most facing at least a 10% base tariff. Following retaliatory actions from Beijing, Trump subsequently raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%.
Shortly after, Trump declared a temporary suspension of new tariffs on countries other than the CCP for 90 days, but the 10% base tax rate remained unchanged.
While the stock market experienced a temporary decline, it later stabilized.
Lutnick criticized the prevalent notion propagated by mainstream media and some experts that “Trump’s tariffs would lead to inflation,” reiterating that businesses and foreign countries, rather than American households, would bear the cost of tariffs.
He stated, “Businesses and other countries bear the majority of the tariffs. If you look back, during President Trump’s first term, we imposed 25% tariffs… but there were no complaints from American consumers regarding these tariff measures.”
Since the introduction of Trump’s new tariff policies, many left-leaning economists, media outlets, and Democrats have continuously criticized them, warning that the new tariffs would inevitably raise prices, shrink supply chains, and impact American consumers and workers.
Lutnick urged Americans not to buy into these arguments.
He emphasized, “Don’t believe the absurd argument that American consumers will foot the bill for this. It is the responsibility of businesses to sell to American consumers, and domestically produced products will not be affected by the new tariffs.”
During the “State of the Union” program, when Dana Bash inquired about the US-China trade talks that took place over the weekend in Switzerland, Lutnick stated that he felt “very good” about them but declined to provide specific negotiation details.
He mentioned, “I’ve left that to the trade team. They are there right now in the conference room, so I’ve let them handle it themselves. They felt good yesterday; it’s really uplifting.”
Despite maintaining a positive stance on trade negotiations, Lutnick affirmed that the United States would not rescind the 10% base tariffs on all countries. The framework of the US-UK trade agreement announced last week also included a 10% tariff.
On May 8, Trump announced a trade agreement with the UK, marking the first deal signed with a specific country since the implementation of the “Liberation Day” tariffs in early April. The agreement allows the UK to export 100,000 cars to the US at a 10% tariff rate, rather than the previously announced 25% rate at the end of March.
Trump remarked last Thursday, “It looks like a very good deal for both countries because it’s a great deal for the UK as well. Their country was a little closed, they’re opening up their country, and we appreciate it.”
However, as part of the agreement, the 10% base tariffs set by Trump on imports from most countries still apply to the UK.
Appearing on the “Fox News Sunday” program, Lutnick urged consumers to maintain confidence in Trump’s trade strategies, even though the government would not publicly disclose negotiation details.
Lutnick stressed, “You should remain very optimistic and positive about this, and I do too. The President has also made similar statements through social media.”