White House advisers send mixed messages on Trump's latest tariff threat |
White House advisers send mixed messages on Trump's latest tariff threat
The president said Wednesday he would "immediately" impose a 50 percent duty on imports from any country that supplies weapons to Iran.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer looks on during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House on Jan. 14, 2026. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
President Donald Trump has threatened to levy a new 50 percent tariffs on goods from countries that provide weapons to Iran, but top economic advisers aren’t on the same page on how the president could accomplish that.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett suggested Thursday morning that the president can use a 1977 emergency law, despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled in February that statute does not authorize tariffs.
“This is clearly within the president’s tariff power, that if we’re in a state of conflict, then the IEEPA policy is exactly designed for that,” Hassett said on Fox Business with Maria Bartiromo, using the acronym for the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. “Countries really should be careful. If you’re helping our adversary, then President Trump will take note and he’ll take action.”