Politics
WATCH: Former Commerce Secretary Praises Trump’s Tariffs, Makes Bold Prediction
Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who served under President George W. Bush, praised President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy and predicted that there will be no need for the majority of them to remain in place by the end of the year.
Gutierrez reacted to Thursday’s stock market bloodbath, which was followed by another massive sell-off on Friday, with optimism while speaking with CNBC. “Well, I would say, like most people, this was stronger than what many of us expected. But it’s, you know, it’s the opening step. So I would expect, I would assume that this will not be in place in a month, two months, definitely not in the back half of the year,” the former commerce secretary said.
“So I’m in the camp that this is a the beginning of a big negotiation,” he added.
Gutierrez went on to classify the tariffs into four groups, the first being automobiles. Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on vehicle imports, including 25 percent tariffs on the European Union, in order to counter tariffs they had already placed on the United States.
The automobiles issue will largely come down to Mexico, Canada and Germany, Gutierrez predicted. “Korea and Japan don’t charge tariffs for automobiles anymore. So Mexico and Canada will most likely be addressed with the USMCA agreement. That’s scheduled for 26, but that will be brought forward, hopefully in the next month or two. And that the autos will be folded into that discussion,” he said.
“Germany, it’s about, you know, they charge us 10 percent. We charge them two and a half. That could be fixed. And it’s not only about bringing production back, but it’s also about market access. So if Germany brings down their tariffs, and that gives US companies more access to the German market.”
The former Bush official then addressed the issue of reciprocal tariffs, stating that these will be “all about negotiation.”
“So we’re going to be hearing about tariffs for quite a while now, and the president has set the stage for what he loves to do. He’ll be negotiating every single day for the foreseeable future, which each one of these countries. It’s interesting, as we think about is this designed for negotiation or are these permanent?” Gutierrez continued.
He pointed to ongoing negotiations with Vietnam, as the Vietnamese government is in active discussions with the Trump Administration to drop all tariffs on U.S. goods, as an example of the rapidly-evolving situation.
The impending agreement with Vietnam, according to Gutierrez, will be hailed as a victory by the Trump Administration as a sign of things to come. This, he predicted, will be repeated numerous times with dozens of additional nations as they come to the negotiating table in the coming weeks.
Lastly, Gutierrez addressed tariffs on China, which he placed into a category of their own and argued that they can not be viewed in the same way as those placed on other nations.
“China will require a very special negotiation. It will not be a phone call to talk about autos. That will be something more important, more consequential, and that’s hard to predict. It could be a trade deal or it could be something a lot bigger. But definitely bigger than I thought. But each one has a piece. Each one has a solution,” he continued.
“I do not believe that these tariffs will be in place going into the second half of the year,” Gutierrez concluded.
