Business
US Treasury Secretary Says Tariffs Will Go Up For Any Leader Acting Like ‘Numbskull’ Justin Trudeau
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Harold Hutchison
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow Thursday that world leaders emulating “a numbskull” like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could see higher tariffs from the United States.
President Donald Trump announced Monday that new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China would go into effect, citing “vast amounts of fentanyl” pouring into the United States. After noting Trudeau’s defiant response, which included retaliatory tariffs, Bessent, during the interview by Kudlow at the Economic Club of New York, urged world leaders to negotiate.
“As President Trump has said many times, ‘tariff’ is his favorite word. I would say the ‘reciprocal’ is probably his second favorite word. And I think we have to be open to the idea. If you want to be a numbskull like Justin Trudeau and say, ‘Oh, we’re going to do this,’ then it’s going to — tariffs are going to go up,” Bessent told Kudlow. “But if you want to sit back, have a discussion with the Commerce Department, USTR, they all have my phone number too. I am happy to have a discussion with our foreign counterparts, that says that, ‘Here’s what we think you are doing.’ And the tariffs are the actual easy part. Because we know India does this on U.S. motorcycles. Germany does this on — or EU does this on American cars. That’s a quantitative number.”
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WATCH:
Trump delayed the imposition of the tariffs on Mexico following a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, thanking her for her “hard work.” Bessent said tariffs were not the only barriers American products faced.
“But, also, what are non-tariff barriers? Apple cannot sell the new iPhone 16 because of local content laws in Indonesia. Are — are you manipulating your currency? Are you suppressing the value of that? Are you unfairly subsidizing select industries either via bank lending or suppressing labor markets?” Bessent asked.
Bessent also noted fines that the European Union was imposing or threatening to impose on American tech companies like Apple, Google and X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Something that’s come to our attention recently, the EU is putting these gigantic fines on our U.S. tech companies, and that’s a form of — that’s a non-tariff barrier too,” Bessent told Kudlow. “So we’re going to look at that and then talk about what could happen on a reciprocal basis. It’s going to be — much of that will come out April 2. And we will then — it’s going to be path-dependent based on our trading partners and there will be a discussion. When Prime Minister Keir Starmer and team U.K. were in the White House on Thursday, we had a very good discussion about getting — going on all of this and more.”
Quick Hit:
Apple is appealing a UK government order that could force it to create a ‘backdoor’ for authorities to access private user data. The move, pushed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, threatens the company’s end-to-end encryption protections. President Trump condemned the demand, comparing it to tactics used in China.
Key Details:
- Apple has lodged an appeal with the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal, challenging an order that could weaken its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) encryption.
- The company previously disabled ADP in Britain rather than comply, arguing that a backdoor would compromise user security.
- UK security agencies argue that encryption helps criminals evade law enforcement, while Apple insists it will never create a ‘master key.’
Diving Deeper:
Apple is grappling with the British government over a surveillance order that could force the company to weaken its own security measures. The tech giant filed an appeal with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the court responsible for overseeing the UK’s surveillance laws, after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pushed for the company to provide a ‘backdoor’ to encrypted user data.
The controversy centers around Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP), an encryption system that prevents even Apple from accessing a user’s iCloud backups. In February, the company disabled ADP in the UK rather than comply with the order. Without ADP, Apple can access and hand over certain iCloud backups, such as iMessages, if legally required. However, with full end-to-end encryption enabled, even Apple cannot retrieve the data. The UK order could force Apple to rewrite its security features, something the company strongly opposes.
Apple has made it clear that it will not compromise user privacy. “We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and never will,” the company stated. Apple also warned that creating a backdoor for law enforcement would inevitably make millions of users more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
The UK government, however, argues that such encryption hampers law enforcement investigations, particularly into crimes such as child exploitation and terrorism. A Home Office spokesperson defended the order, stating, “The UK has a longstanding position of protecting our citizens from the very worst crimes while ensuring privacy protections.”
President Donald Trump criticized the UK government’s stance, comparing it to authoritarian surveillance practices. “We told them you can’t do this… That’s something, you know, that you hear about with China,” Trump said.
The case also raises concerns about whether the UK’s actions violate the CLOUD Act, a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and the UK that limits government demands for data on foreign citizens. Reports suggest that U.S. officials are now investigating whether Britain breached this agreement by pressuring Apple to create a ‘backdoor.’
MxM News
Quick Hit:
America’s manufacturing sector is roaring back under President Donald Trump, reversing the steep job losses of the Biden era. February’s jobs report shows a surge in auto industry hiring, a major turnaround from Biden’s final year in office. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt credited Trump’s pro-growth policies, declaring, “The American economy is soaring back to greatness.”
Key Details:
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The U.S. added 10,000 manufacturing jobs in February, a sharp reversal from Biden’s final year, which saw an average loss of 9,000 per month.
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The auto industry gained 8,900 jobs, the highest increase in 15 months, after shedding 27,300 jobs under Biden in 2023.
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Private sector job growth accounted for 93% of February’s gains, showing strong business confidence in Trump’s economic policies.
Diving Deeper:
America’s manufacturing sector is making a swift comeback under President Donald Trump, with February’s jobs report showing significant growth in the industry. The sharp turnaround follows a year of manufacturing decline under Joe Biden, who oversaw the loss of 111,000 jobs in the sector.
The auto industry has been a major driver of this resurgence, adding nearly 9,000 jobs in February—the most in over a year. This growth stands in stark contrast to 2023 when the sector shed tens of thousands of jobs under Biden’s economic policies. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt credited Trump’s leadership, stating, “The American economy is soaring back to greatness after the economic calamity left by Joe Biden.”
Economic confidence is also on the rise. S&P Global’s U.S. manufacturing survey reached its highest level since mid-2022, while the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business entered expansion territory after more than two years of contraction. These indicators suggest businesses are ramping up production, hiring workers, and responding favorably to Trump’s economic agenda.
With private sector growth leading the way and key economic indicators showing strength, the Trump Administration is setting the stage for continued economic momentum. As White House put it, “President Trump is just getting started.”
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