US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick holds a chart as unseen US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
Aggressive tariffs that President Donald Trump announced Wednesday will begin a “re-ordering” of global trade that will force other nations to open their doors to more American goods, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday.
Under an executive order the president signed, the U.S. will retaliate against duties imposed on American goods elsewhere.
Lutnick, in a CNBC interview, said the moves will push countries to re-examine their policies and provide greater market access for U.S. products.
“This is the reordering of fair trade,” he said on “Squawk Box.” “It’s about those non-tariff trade barriers. That’s what we are addressing.”
As Lutnick spoke, traders recoiled against the tariff announcements, sending futures liked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging by more than 1,100 points as Treasury yields also fell sharply.
Asked what it would take for products to be given exemptions from the new tariffs, Lutnick said the issue runs deeper.
“I don’t think the word exemption is going to be a factor. I don’t think that’s such a thing,” he said. “I think what there’s going to be is a world of fairness. Let’s go try to figure out ways for the world to treat us more fairly and more properly.”
In the Wednesday announcement, Trump said the U.S. would apply 10% blanket duties on all products coming into the U.S., while also unveiling a menu of other reciprocal rates against individual trading partners.
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