Wilbur Ross: Tariffs are ‘typical Trump’ high-risk, high-reward play
by Brett Samuels -
As the White House presses ahead with sweeping tariffs on dozens of nations that could upend the global economy, President Trump’s former Commerce secretary sees it as “typical Trump.”
“This is probably the most important decision that he will make during his whole next term,” Wilbur Ross, who served as Commerce secretary for the entirety of Trump’s first term, told The Hill in an interview.
“If he gets it right, it’s off to the races. If he gets it wrong, that means a very good chance that the Republicans will lose control of the Congress in the midterms,” Ross continued. “This is sort of typical Trump in that it’s high-risk, high reward.”
The tariffs, which President Trump announced last week, went into effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT Wednesday. There is a baseline 10 percent tariff on all countries, with some nations facing much higher rates, including China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea and Japan. That’s on top of previously announced tariffs on auto imports and steel and aluminum imports.
The stock market has taken a tumble in response to the tariffs, which has come with mixed messaging about whether they are setting up negotiations. Some Republicans have expressed unease with the approach and signaled they may try to rein in the president’s authority on tariffs.
Here’s what Ross, who is not part of the current administration or its decisionmaking, had to say about the tariffs.
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On his reaction to the tariffs:
“The tariffs were more expansive than I had expected. Particularly at the very high end. You have these 40 [percent], 50 percent kinds of numbers that are essentially a kiss off saying, ‘We’re just not going to do business with you.’ So that’s more than I had expected,” Ross said.
“I also had some doubts about the way they calculated what the tariffs should be. And I don’t think that formula is such a reliable formula. But at this stage, all that matters is, where do we go from here,” he added.
On the stock market:
“It seems to me that in order for the markets to become more stable, what’s really needed is one or two countries to make a deal with Trump that results in a mutual lowering of tariffs. I think that will start to give the market clarity,” Ross told The Hill.
“I think everybody expected there would be tariffs. Everybody expected there would be negotiation, and when they came in so high, I think people became frightened that we would instead spiral into a big trade war,” he added. “That fear, the fear of the unknown is what’s destroying the markets.”
The stock market was down again at Tuesday’s close after an initial rally earlier sparked by talk of possible deals with other countries.
“Now, you can argue the market was a little too high anyway,” Ross continued. “And usually, markets that are too high need an excuse to make a correction. So I think to some degree, there was a correction that was going to come for some reason or another.”
On Trump’s decision to act now:
“I think they had to act quickly because there’s always a danger that Congress will take back the tariff powers that the president has,” Ross said. “And I think if they waited too long, if they waited until September, that’s so close to the midterm elections, I don’t think the Congress would do anything very controversial then.
“In theory, Congress could in theory try to take it back, and while he could always veto it, that would make even more confusion,” he added. “He has to get this out of the system early on in order to have a hope of it working.”
Trump indicated as much Monday, telling reporters, “We’re going to have one shot at this. And no other president’s going to do this, what I’m doing.”
On what the administration might do with tariff revenue:
Ross said the administration is “clearly having some discussion that a combination of tariffs and the work [Elon] Musk has been doing, some discussion of writing a check to every taxpayer. That would be the most dramatic way to show the population they really were getting something back from it. Whether they’ll do that, I don’t know.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday the Commerce Department is looking at setting up an “External Revenue Service” to take in money from tariffs, but she did not have details about whether that had gotten underway.
Trump previously floated the idea of giving Americans a portion of the savings found by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), though it received a cool reception in Congress.
On current Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick:
“I like Howard. I know him very well. I’ve known him for 40 years. … I’ve not only known Howard, I’ve done business with him. He’s a very good business man. Very, very bright. Very good manager. You see how he built Cantor Fitzgerald from being a relatively modest scale firm … now he’s made it into a very, very, substantial business.
“He’s not a trade expert, but based on my conversations, he’s really immersing himself very, very rapidly, and he’s a quick learner,” Ross said.
Lutnick has been the subject of multiple media reports about frustration with his messaging and approach among other White House officials and business executives.
When asked about some of the contradictory messaging coming from administration officials like Lutnick and senior trade adviser Peter Navarro, Ross said Trump’s voice was the one that mattered.
“Tariffs and trade in general are probably the most complicated economic phenomena because there are so many variables and so many unknowns that it’s very hard to strike a proper balance. So there naturally would be different views,” Ross told The Hill. “There weren’t any real leaks from people trying to disrupt the process or anything like that. So, I’m optimistic that he is really his own trade master at this point. And while others will handle the details, the overall direction and tone is going to be his call, period.”
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