Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick shot down the possibility of a recession in the US in an interview on NBC News' “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“It's definitely not,” Rutnick said when asked if Americans should decorate due to the recession.
“Donald Trump is the winner. He's going to win for the Americans. That's just what happens,” Rutnick added.
Kristen Welker of NBC News says consumer sentiment is declining and inflation is on the rise, leading banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are seeing an ever-increasing recession over the next 12 months.
“There's no recession in America,” Rutnick said.
After months of threat, Trump's 25% tariff came into effect this week on American neighbours to the North, marking a turning point for the two relationships between the US and its top trading partners.
However, a few days later, Trump signed a tariff exemption for most imports from Canada and Mexico, delaying its implementation until April 2nd. At that point, the President plans to impose mutual tariffs on foreign countries that are obligated to import the US.
Despite the extension, tariff threats have had economic impacts in the US and elsewhere, and they are full of strong pushbacks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denounced the tariff plan as “what we need to do is very stupid.”
Lutnick said it hopes global tariffs will fall in response to the threat of mutual tariffs.
“President Trump says, 'Do you want us to charge 100%? We charge 100%.” And you know what they say? They said, “No, no, no, no, no, don't charge 100%. We'll beat us,” Rutnick said.
“We will unleash America into the world and grow our economy in ways we have never grown before. You will see the biggest growth set from America over the next two years,” he said.
