White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett doubled down on the effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Sunday, saying dozens of countries are now seeking to open negotiations and U.S. manufacturing is booming.
Hassett made the claim during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” with host George Stephanopoulos. He said that over 50 countries have already said they want to negotiate new trade agreements with Trump’s administration since the tariffs hit last week, though he acknowledged there may be short-term pain for consumers.
He pointed to the decrease in prices that has existed since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2000, arguing that the loss of jobs outweighs the low prices.
“If cheap goods were the answer, if cheap goods were going to make Americans’ real wages better off, then real incomes would have gone up over that time. Instead, they went down because wages went down more than prices went down. So we got the cheap goods at the grocery store, but then we had fewer jobs,” he said.
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Hassett added that he has received “anecdotal word” that some U.S. auto plants are adding second shifts to their work schedules in response to the tariffs.
Stephanopoulos then pressed Hassett to explain why Russia wasn’t targeted with any additional tariffs.
“There’s obviously an ongoing negotiation with Russia and Ukraine, and I think the president made the decision not to conflate the two issues. It doesn’t mean that Russia in the fullness of time, is going to be treated wildly different than every other country,” Hassett responded.
“But Russia’s one of the only countries, one of few countries that is not subject to these new tariffs, aren’t they?” Stephanopoulos pressed.
“They’re in the middle of a negotiation, George, aren’t they?” Hassett countered. “Would you literally advise that you go in and put a whole bunch of new things on the table in the middle of a negotiation that affects so many American and Ukrainian and Russian lives?”
“Negotiators do that all the time,” Stephanopoulos argued.
“Russia is in the midst of negotiations over peace that affects really thousands and thousands of lives of people and that’s what President Trump’s focused on right now,” Hassett said.