President Donald Trump participated in a wide-ranging interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday morning. He discussed various economic policies and his administration’s ongoing strategies. Trump unveiled plans to impose tariffs on semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports.
He mentioned that he will announce his tariff plan for semiconductors “within the next week or so.” Additionally, he plans to impose “a small tariff” on pharmaceutical imports before potentially increasing it to 250% within a year and a half. The President also indicated he’s not backing down from his stance on the Federal Reserve. He discussed potential candidates to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair, including former Governor Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett, the National Economic Council director.
“Both Kevins are very good,” Trump said. Trump praised the decline in foreign-born workers since taking office. “That’s a great number, by the way, because it means we’re putting AMERICANS to work,” he said.
Trump discusses tariffs and banks
Regarding China relations, Trump suggested progress toward a deal. “I’ll end up having a meeting [with China] before the end of the year, most likely, if we make a deal.
… We’re getting very close to a deal.”
Trump criticized India’s trade practices and threatened higher tariffs. “We do very, very little business with India because their tariffs are so high,” he said, adding he might raise the current 25% tariff “very substantially over the next 24 hours because they’re buying Russian oil.”
The President accused banks of discriminating against conservatives. “They discriminated against many conservatives… I believe what they did is they went to the regulators,” Trump claimed.
Addressing employment statistics, Trump alleged the previous administration had manipulated job numbers. “The numbers were rigged. Biden wasn’t doing well; he was doing poorly.
They announced these phenomenal numbers… then they did the biggest revision, I think in history, of almost 900,000 jobs.”
Overall, the President emphasized his administration’s success in boosting the economy, implementing new tariffs, and protecting conservative interests. The interview touched on a range of pressing economic issues as the administration manages ongoing trade negotiations and new U.S. jobs data.