Trade tariffs target drug smuggling across borders


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White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett clarified Sunday that the administration’s tariff policies targeting Mexico, Canada, and China were primarily focused on combating drug trafficking rather than initiating a trade conflict.

Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week,” Hassett explained the reasoning behind President Donald Trump’s strategic decisions on international trade measures.

“What happened was that we launched a drug war, not a trade war, and it was part of a negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders,” he said. “And as we’ve watched them make progress on the drug war, then we’ve relaxed some of the tariffs that we put on them because they’re making progress. And so, that drug war is something that’s been going on since really the beginning of the Trump administration.”

Hassett revealed plans for an upcoming April study that would analyze how foreign nations’ tariffs have impacted the American economy.

“Between now and then, we’ve got the drug war which we’re hopefully going to solve by the end of the month,” he said. “Hopefully, that we’ll actually round up, you know, the people in the cartels and stop the flow of fentanyl that’s killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, and then we’ll be focused on the reciprocal thing.”

Addressing tariff disparities, Hassett noted that many countries impose higher rates than the United States. “And now on the reciprocal thing, remember that just about every country on Earth charges a much higher tariff than we do,” he added. “And so, when we pass an act that says that we’re going to have the same tariff they charge us, then you’re covering it as if the only possible outcome is that our tariffs go up. But maybe they decide to go down, right?”

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