WH Trade Adviser Navarro: Any talk of recession seems silly given expected tax cuts
White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro told CNBC on Monday that countries seeking a tariff relief need to lower non-tariff barriers, per Reuters.
Key takeaways
"Any talk of recession seems silly given expected tax cuts."
"When you ask whether US President Donald Trump is willing to negotiate, the president is always willing to listen."
"Methodology for tariff calculations was sound."
"We want fairness from trading partners."
"Tariffs will pay for the biggest tax cut in the American history."
"The market will find a bottom."
"We want auto parts made in the US."
"EU needs to drop non-tariff barriers, including value-added tax."
Market reaction
The US Dollar Index stays in daily range following these comments and was last seen trading virtually unchanged 102.92.
US-China Trade War FAQs
Generally speaking, a trade war is an economic conflict between two or more countries due to extreme protectionism on one end. It implies the creation of trade barriers, such as tariffs, which result in counter-barriers, escalating import costs, and hence the cost of living.
An economic conflict between the United States (US) and China began early in 2018, when President Donald Trump set trade barriers on China, claiming unfair commercial practices and intellectual property theft from the Asian giant. China took retaliatory action, imposing tariffs on multiple US goods, such as automobiles and soybeans. Tensions escalated until the two countries signed the US-China Phase One trade deal in January 2020. The agreement required structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime and pretended to restore stability and trust between the two nations. However, the Coronavirus pandemic took the focus out of the conflict. Yet, it is worth mentioning that President Joe Biden, who took office after Trump, kept tariffs in place and even added some additional levies.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House as the 47th US President has sparked a fresh wave of tensions between the two countries. During the 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to impose 60% tariffs on China once he returned to office, which he did on January 20, 2025. With Trump back, the US-China trade war is meant to resume where it was left, with tit-for-tat policies affecting the global economic landscape amid disruptions in global supply chains, resulting in a reduction in spending, particularly investment, and directly feeding into the Consumer Price Index inflation.