The former deputy director of the National Economic Council under President Donald Trump, Everett Eissenstat, says Trump sees tariffs as a tool to fight unfair trading practices.
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00:00Well, some of the countries that are threatened by these looming tariffs are, of course, natural
00:06long-standing U.S. allies.
00:09Just remind us, why is President Trump so aggrieved?
00:13Why is he making threats of this kind against countries that are, by any standards, friends
00:20of the United States?
00:21Yeah, it's a great question, and I think it's even deeper than, it's not just President
00:26Trump.
00:27I think this is a trend we've been seeing in international economic policy for a few
00:31decades, starting probably under President Obama with the kind of frame of the Trans-Pacific
00:37Partnership, where he could not get support in the Congress for that.
00:40And candidly, I think part of the reason is dissatisfaction with international institutions
00:46being able to deliver on some of the commitments and promises about a rules-based trading system.
00:53The president perceives there's some inequities, and he feels like the trade deficit is demonstrative
00:58of those inequities.
01:00And he feels that tariffs are a good tool for a number of different purposes, and one
01:05of those purposes is to remedy unfair trading practices.