Raise tariffs to 15 percent

Navarro: Trump will still raise tariffs to 15 percent

The White House trade adviser indicated the president still planned to bump up the current 10 percent duty — something Trump said he would do last month.

By Daniel Desrochers, Sam Sutton and Victoria Guida

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Wednesday that President Donald Trump still intends to raise his current set of global tariffs to 15 percent, more than a month after the president pledged it would happen.

“It has happened, at least it’s in process to happen,” Navarro said at a POLITICO Live event in Washington. “I wouldn’t get too lost in the details on that.”

The White House imposed a 10 percent global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, the same day the Supreme Court struck down a wide swath of Trump’s tariffs Feb. 20. Trump posted on Truth Social the next day that “effective immediately” he was raising the rate “to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level” — the maximum allowed under the law.

The administration has yet to release any formal order raising the tariffs, however.

Increasing the duties another 5 percent could jeopardize existing trade agreements Trump reached with the United Kingdom and European Union, potentially threatening a signature accomplishment of the administration’s first year of trade policy.

Navarro described the existing trade agreements as “bespoke,” and indicated that they could still be adjusted as the U.S. restores tariffs that were struck down by the court, including imposing tariffs over national security concerns and to combat unfair trade practices.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has launched two investigations into unfair trade practices targeting dozens of countries, and there are several open national security investigations that could lead to higher duties on specific goods like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

“Even though we lost the IEEPA tariffs, it was the best possible outcome, because the justices ratified and affirmed the use of every other statute we’ve been using to implement tariffs,” Navarro said, referring to the Supreme Court ruling, which decided the president did not have the authority to impose duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The majority’s decision did not explicitly take a position on other trade laws.

Navarro also weighed in on the possibility that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell might remain on the central bank’s board after his term as chair expires in May.

Trump has labeled Powell a “dummy” for refusing to lower rates, and the outgoing Fed chair said last week that he has “no intention” of leaving the central bank until a Justice Department investigation into his Senate testimony about the central bank’s renovation has concluded. Powell has said that the investigation was a pretext to pressure him into acceding to Trump’s demands to lower rates.

Navarro said that Powell is the “worst Fed chairman in history” and that he would be defying recent precedent if he remains on the Fed board once Trump’s pick for chair — former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh — is confirmed by the Senate.

“You don’t want a previous Fed chair overhang on the leadership of the current Fed chair. In this case, it’d be absolutely toxic because Jay Powell has an attitude,” Navarro said, later adding: “The man fundamentally misreads Trumponomics and he also has animosity toward the president.”