Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that Donald Trump’s tariffs on major US trading partners may cause short-term price hikes, but argued the long-term effects would be positive.
“There may well be short-term price movements, but in the long-term, it’s going to be completely different,” Lutnick said. He also signaled that more tariffs were in the pipeline, saying the Trump administration was ready to move forward on 2 April with its plan for “reciprocal” levies on imports from countries that put tariffs on US goods.
Once the price goes up, there is no reason to bring them down. Since consumers would have already become accustomed to new higher prices.