Harold Lutnick defends tariffs after massive stock market sell-off: ‘The rest of the world has been ripping us off’

Secretary of Commerce Harold Lutnick defended the tariff policies of the Trump administration on “Face the Nation” after a massive sell-off in the stock market.

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday an across-the-board tariff of 10% while adding higher tariffs to several nations that have a trade deficit with the U.S. The ensuing stock market drop erased about $10 trillion in market value and continued into Monday.

‘We got to start to protect ourselves, and we gotta stop having all the countries of the world ripping us off.’

During the Sunday interview, Margaret Brennan pointed out that about 60% of Americans have a stake in the stock market and then asked Lutnick if the administration had foreseen the crash as a result of the policies.

“Well, you got to realize this is a national security issue. We don’t make medicine in this country any more. We don’t make ships. We don’t have enough steel and aluminum to fight a battle,” Lutnick responded.

“All of our semiconductors are made overseas. Every button we press when we try to start our car or even use our microwave, these are all semiconductors. They’re all made elsewhere,” he added. “We got to start to protect ourselves, and we gotta stop having all the countries of the world ripping us off.”

The Trump campaign published video of Lutnick’s response to Brennan’s questioning on social media.

Brennan pressed Lutnick on whether the tariffs were permanent or negotiable until he said that they were permanent. Economists have criticized Trump’s insistence on erasing trade deficits with other countries, but Lutnick claimed that this was the key to re-industrializing the U.S. and bringing back jobs that were lost to globalization.

“We have a $1.2 trillion trade deficit, and the rest of the world has a surplus with us. They’re earning our money. They’re taking our money. Donald Trump has seen this, and he’s gonna stop it,” Lutnick continued.

“It is gonna be a big change. Of course it’s gonna be a big change, but the rest of the world has been ripping us off for all these many years. Donald Trump has seen it, he’s spoken about it, and he’s just not gonna take it any more, and that’s his model,” he added.

The entire segment with Lutnick can be viewed on the show’s YouTube channel.

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