Trump's top economic advisor says over 50 countries have reached out to US for tariff talks

ISTANBUL

More than 50 countries targeted by tariffs announced last week by US President Donald Trump have reached out to Washington about negotiations to lift them, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday.

“So the fact is, the countries are angry and retaliating and, by the way, coming to the table. I got a report from the (US Trade Representative) last night that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation," Hassett told ABC News “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.

“They're doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff,” he said.

“And so I don't think that you're going to see a big effect on the consumer in the US because I do think that the reason why we have a persistent, long-running trade deficit is these people have very inelastic supply. They've been dumping goods into the country in order to create jobs, say, in China,” he said.

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who also appeared on the program, said the tariffs are causing great harm to the economy.

Summers said the tariffs are leading to price increases, which in turn are raising inflation.

He said this situation reduces people's purchasing power, and this reduction in purchasing power means "fewer jobs."