In a fiery exchange on CNBC, President Donald Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, didn’t hold back as he clashed with the network’s hosts over the impact of Trump’s tariffs. The debate heated up when Navarro defended the tariffs as a vital strategy to counter unfair trade practices, asserting they were key to revitalizing American manufacturing and economy. The CNBC hosts, skeptical of the tariffs' long-term success, repeatedly interrupted Navarro, challenging his claims. Still, he quickly pushed back, arguing that the tariffs were necessary to ensure America's economic future and force foreign countries to the negotiating table.
During Monday’s segment on the “Squawk Box,” host Andrew Ross Sorkin claimed that Trump's objective was to either generate revenue for the U.S. or leverage trade talks with other countries to secure better deals for America appears “to be at odds with each other.” Sorkin suggested two possible outcomes: either the goal is to collect revenue through tariffs, or the goal is to use tariffs as a tool to negotiate better trade deals with other countries. However, he believes these two objectives may conflict, as one focuses on generating money while the other is about reaching fairer trade terms.
However, Navarro fired back.
“Not if you look at it as a movie rather than a snapshot… the goal here, ultimately, is to have people make things here. Remember, the president has said early on, hang on, let me finish a thought,” Navarro said as Sorkin interjected. “Andrew, why are you interrupting? Let me just finish a thought. The president has said very early on, often, that the best way to avoid tariffs is to just come here and produce. I mean, if you look at our auto industry, we’re an assembly line for German engines and transmissions right now. That just doesn’t make any sense. In World War II, we won that war with our so-called arsenal of democracy. We can’t do that anymore. We’ve got parts spread all across the globe and if COVID taught us anything, those supply chains aren’t not resilient, they’re not reliable. So, I take your point, but I’ll tell you. We’re gonna get to a place where America makes stuff again.”
Although the tariffs that Trump has imposed caused U.S. stocks to take a nose dive, the president proudly stated that foreign countries are talking with the U.S. to negotiate on tariffs.
“Countries from all over the World are talking to us. Tough but fair parameters are being set. Spoke to the Japanese Prime Minister this morning. He is sending a top team to negotiate! They have treated the U.S. very poorly on Trade. They don’t take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs. Likewise Agriculture, and many other ‘things.’ It all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday.
Navarro reassured people not to overreact to the stock market decline, advising them that selling would result in more significant losses. He assured them that, in the near future, the U.S. economy would experience significant growth, leading to a thriving stock market.
.@RealPNavarro: "You can’t lose money unless you sell and right now the smart strategy is NOT TO PANIC, just stay in because we are going to have the biggest boom in the stock market we’ve ever seen... We will hit 50,000 on the DOW by the end of this term."
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) April 7, 2025
DON'T BE A PANICAN‼️ pic.twitter.com/HfolZO8NiW
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