Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that trade talks with other nations remain ongoing despite the legal battle.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s tariffs amid legal challenges, saying the government’s plan to impose those tariffs will not be derailed by court rulings.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled against Trump’s tariffs on May 28, with the judges determining that the president exceeded his authority by issuing sweeping tariffs on trade partners. A federal appeals court later stayed the decision, allowing the tariffs to take effect while it “considers the motions papers.”
During an interview with Fox News on June 1, Lutnick was adamant that the tariffs would remain in place despite the legal woes, noting that Trump was given the authority by Congress to enforce them.
“Rest assured, tariffs are not going away,” he said. “He has so many other authorities that even in the weird and unusual circumstance where this was taken away, we just bring on another or another or another. Congress has given this authority to the president, and he’s going to use it.”
Lutnick said that Trump has invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives him the authority to regulate international trade during a national emergency.
He noted that the “$1.2 trillion trade deficit” in goods with other nations and “all the underlying implications” of those deficits constitute such an emergency.
When asked if the legal setbacks impacted trade talks, Lutnick stated that the court rulings “cost us a week, but then everybody came right back to the table” as trade partners continued to pursue a trade deal with the United States to avoid tariff hikes before the 90-day pause ends.
“All of the countries that are negotiating with us understand the power of Donald Trump and his ability to protect the American worker,” Lutnick said. “And so what they’re doing is they’re negotiating with us.”
Trump said on Sunday that if the courts rule against the administration on tariffs, it “would allow other countries to hold our nation hostage with their anti-American Tariffs that they would use against us.”
“This would mean the Economic ruination of the United States of America,” he wrote on social media platform Truth Social.
