On Sunday, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick spoke to CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" about President Trump's tariffs.
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00:00Yeah, but as you well know, because you worked on the U.K. deal, which I'll get to in one second, that's a very different kettle of fish than China and even some of the other countries that I know that you are trying to deal with directly.
00:13So when it comes to, again, I'm talking about American jobs and American consumers in the short term, we're heading into the summer and it could mean, tell me if this is wrong, that a lot of the goods that Americans are used to either buying or getting easily will either be more expensive or hard to get.
00:38We're talking about beach chairs, swimsuits, picnic supplies, fireworks. Is this something that Americans just need to understand is going to be harder to buy?
00:49Well, I think, look, the Chinese and our representatives are meeting now.
00:55So, you know, let's just leave what's possible with China to what happens on Monday, Tuesday and next week.
01:02But the rest of the world is open for business, right?
01:05Remember, we have a low tariff on the rest of the world while we negotiate.
01:09But our expectation is that these countries are going to open their markets, their tariffs are going to come down, the ability for us to export and grow our economy is going to be better than ever before.
01:20That's why President Trump talks about a golden age.
01:23Of course, all these countries are going to come and sell their products to us.
01:27Of course, we're going to have our shelves full of wonderful products made around the world.
01:32But we're going to make sure on their shelves that American products are finally given the fair treatment that they deserve.
01:40And I think what people forget is that we have been locked out of economy after economy after economy.
01:46And President Trump is going to break down those barriers and let us sell.
01:51Imagine this.
01:51If we can let other countries accept our standards, then our small businesses can sell online to foreign purchasers.
02:02I mean, imagine we're not allowed to do that now.
02:04It's just not fair trade.
02:06And President Trump is on trying to make it fair trade.