US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick downplayed the impact of legal uncertainty around US tariffs on negotiations with the European Union during an interview with Fox News on Sunday, saying talks were ongoing.
Lutnick was asked about a Reuters report quoting an unnamed EU official close to negotiations who said the legal uncertainty of the tariffs in the US gave the EU “extra leverage.”
“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.”
A US trade court blocked most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs in a sweeping ruling last week that found the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from American trading partners. A US federal appeals court paused that ruling a day later, allowing the tariffs to go into effect while it considered an appeal by the Trump administration.
Lutnick said the ruling “maybe cost us a week, but then everybody came right back to the table.”
Trump in late May threatened 50 per cent tariffs on all European goods by June 1st but days later delayed the effective date to July 9th to allow for time to negotiate.
Trump also said on Friday that he would increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent from 25 per cent, leading the European Commission on Saturday to say it could consider countermeasures.
Speaking on ABC News, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the US needed to protect its steel industry for national security reasons in light of economic rival China’s steel production. “We have to show strength,” Hassett said. “We have to have a steel industry that’s ready for American defence.”
Meanwhile US Treasury Secretary Bessent said he believes President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak soon to iron out trade issues including a dispute over critical minerals.
US President Donald Trump on Friday accused China of violating an agreement to mutually roll back tariffs and trade restrictions for critical minerals.
“What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe. And that is not what a reliable partner does,” Bessent said in an interview on Sunday with CBS.
“I am confident that when President Trump and Party Chairman Xi have a call, that this will be ironed out. But the fact that they are withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement – maybe it’s a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it’s intentional. We’ll see after the President speaks with the party chairman.” – Reuters
