White House trade adviser Peter Navarro projected confidence in President Trump’s approach to tariffs, saying in a Sunday interview there’s potential for the president to strike numerous trade deals during the 90-day pause on higher tariffs.
“So this is unfolding exactly like we thought it would in a dominant scenario,” Navarro said in an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” when asked how consumers and businesses can make decisions “when it seems as though the President’s trade policies are shifting at a moment’s notice.”
Navarro said Trump announced the tariffs earlier this month, “knowing full well that a lot of countries would come right to us and want to bargain.”
“We’ve got 90 deals in 90 days possibly pending here,” Navarro continued. “And it was par for the course, actually it was a birdie for President Trump to do exactly what he did, which was pause for 90 days. And we’re going to get this done for the American people.”
Earlier this month, the White House announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on foreign imports, as well as steeper “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of other countries, including many key trading partners.
The president later announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs for trading partners, bringing the tariff rate for foreign countries back to 10 percent during that time. He said that more than 75 countries have reached out and are looking to discuss a path forward on tariffs.
The tariff pauses, however, did not apply to China. Trump has ratcheted up reciprocal tariffs on China to 125 percent on top of 20 percent levies, leading to a proportionate response from Beijing. That has escalated fears of a massive trade war between the world’s two largest economies. But on Friday, Trump announced he would exempt electronics, including from China, from the tariffs.