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Commerce Secretary Lutnick Rejects Full Tariff Swap in Senate Hearing

He said the U.S. would reject a tariff-for-tariff exchange unless Vietnam curbed imports from China

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, left, speaks, as President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance, center, listening as a trade deal with United Kingdom in announced in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington.
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Overview

  • During a June 4 hearing, Howard Lutnick told Senator John Kennedy he would “absolutely not” accept a deal where Vietnam removes all tariffs if the U.S. did the same, calling it “the silliest thing we could do.”
  • Lutnick argued that Vietnam serves as a conduit for roughly $90 billion of Chinese goods marked up and sent to the U.S., undermining the principle of mutual market access.
  • Senator Kennedy pressed the commerce secretary on the purpose of reciprocity in Trump’s tariff strategy, highlighting a contradiction with the stated goal of lowering other countries’ trade barriers.
  • Lutnick said the administration would consider trade negotiations only if Vietnam agreed to stop sourcing products from China and focus on U.S. production.
  • Separately, President Trump delayed a planned 50 percent tariff on EU imports until July 9 after talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and maintained a 90-day pause on most other tariffs following a China deal.