Trump Officials: 50 Countries Have Reached Out to Negotiate Tariffs

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that about 50 nations have reached out to the US to discuss President Trump’s sweeping tariffs, however, he said that nothing will stop the levies from going forward.

Defending the president’s economic plan on Sunday, Lutnick said the calls from foreign officials prove that “these countries know that they’ve been ripping us off,” suggesting there was no room for negotiations.

“There is no postponing,” he told CBS’s Face The Nation. “They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks.”

“The tariffs are coming,” Lutnick added. “He wasn’t kidding. The tariffs are coming. Of course, they are.”

While Lutnick did not specify which countries contacted, the White House, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett both reiterated the assertion during separate appearances on Sunday shows.

The cabinet officials were in damage control made after the stock market saw its largest plunge since the pandemic following Trump’s announcement of sweeping 10% tariffs against nearly 90 nations, with steeper levies set to take effect come Wednesday.

Despite the bleak outlook from economists and market experts, Lutnick defended the new taxes on imports as a necessity to bring manufacturing back to the US and force trade partners to pay their due.

“The president needs to reset global trade,” Lutnick said. “Everybody has a trade surplus and we have a trade deficit.

“It’s not fair. The rules are made not fair, and President Trump is going to fix them, and he’s doing it for America,” the commerce chief added.

Lutnick also stressed that there was no stopping the tariffs from hitting despite nations like Vietnam calling for a zero-zero tariff agreement.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son met with US officials on Sunday to request the delay of the tariffs and open up the negotiations, with America standing as Hanoi’s biggest export market.

Vietnam, which is the sixth largest exporter to the US, is set to be walloped with a 46% tariff under Trump’s plan — because the Communist Southeast Asian nation exports ten times as much as it buys from America.

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro echoed Lutnick during an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”, but noted that Trump was always “willing to listen” to what other nations have to say.

“It’s the non-tariff cheating that matters the most, and when they want to talk to us, come talk to us about that,” he said.

Trump has previously touted the tariffs as a negotiation ploy to improve US trade and bring in more revenue, but he has also dropped hints that the steep levies may be permanent, sparking fears of an all-out trade war.