TRANSCRIPT

                         April 09, 2025

                          NEWS PROGRAM

                                

PETER NAVARRO, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICE TRADE AND MANUFACTURING
                               ADVISER

                                

                                

                                

   FBN INTERVIEW WITH PETER NAVARRO, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
                   TRADE AND MANUFACTURING ADVISER

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     FBN INTERVIEW WITH PETER NAVARRO, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
     TRADE AND MANUFACTURING ADVISER

     APRIL 9, 2025

     SPEAKERS:
     PETER NAVARRO, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICE TRADE AND
     MANUFACTURING ADVISER

     CHARLES PAYNE, FBN ANCHOR

CHARLES PAYNE, FOX BUSINESS ANCHOR: Just moments ago, President Trump announced a 90-day pause.

And now let's get right to it. Joining me now, Trump's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro.

Peter, OK, so we have got 90-day pause. We have got the post from TRUTH Social behind me, essentially isolating China. The tariffs are going to go higher, but you have got a 90-day pause. We just heard from Scott Bessent 75-plus countries are trying to negotiate. Walk us through how this decision was made.

PETER NAVARRO, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICE TRADE AND

MANUFACTURING ADVISER: Charles, this is one of the greatest days in American economic history we have had.

I think we're going to call it the art of the reciprocal trade deal. And I will tell you, all the nervous Nellies on Wall Street who try to undermine us consistently underestimate the power of the president to negotiate.

What have we got here? We are at a place now where we have a broad-based 10 percent global tariff on while we negotiate over the next 90 days with all of these countries who have come to us. And the mission, Charles, in these negotiations is to dramatically reduce our trade deficit, level the plane, get rid of all the tariff differentials...

PAYNE: Right.

NAVARRO: ... get rid of all the non-tariff barriers.

Dow 50000, Charles, I have said this before. It's going to hit that. We're going to have a broad-based recovery in the S&P 500.

PAYNE: We are. Peter, Peter, let me jump, though, in for a second.

NAVARRO: We're going to pass a tax cut and get us no recession. Go ahead.

PAYNE: Let me jump in for a second, because we -- you talked about the nervous Nellies on Wall Street. And, by the way, I'm in that camp as well. I wasn't nervous, but I understand -- you understand how people felt and all the anxiety and all of the negative news stories.

But some are saying it's the market, particularly the bond market, that pushed the White House into this move.

NAVARRO: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We had a great bonds market selling today. And everything was fine with that. The yields looked beautifully. We had broad-based participation in that.

And it's trust in Trump. I mean, look, this was done in a beautiful negotiation. We put out there a set of reciprocal tariffs that reflect the crushing trade deficits that we have with these countries. I said at the beginning no negotiation. It's not that. It's a national emergency.

But we will listen. And what we heard immediately was beautiful. These countries want to come to us, lower not just their tariffs...

PAYNE: Right.

NAVARRO: ... but their non-tariff bears. And, as Scott Bessent said just a few moments ago, there's other things that are going to be on the table that are going to help us reduce our debt, reduce our deficits, things like LNG plants in Alaska.

So we're going to see a wave of investment here. They're going to invest here. We're going to see them lowering their trade barriers. And here's the thing. There's a beautiful analogy President Trump likes to use. It's like each country, it's not going to be like a suit off the rack, right? It's not one-size-fits-all.

It's going to be -- every deal is going to be tailor-made.

PAYNE: Right.

NAVARRO: And we're going to see. We have got 90 days to do this. I'm telling you, Charles, this is going to be the biggest boom. And let's not forget, this tariff strategy is embedded in this beautiful, huge other sets of strategies.

The tax cut, we will get -- if the Congress gets that done by August, then this idea that there will ever be a recession is just silly. The tax cuts, broadest-based, just beautiful tax cuts for the middle class, that alone will help us.

PAYNE: So, Peter...

NAVARRO: And then we have got the oil prices going down. We have got the bond market behaving well now. So, this -- it's unfolded exactly the way it should. It's a beautiful thing.

PAYNE: It is, but let me just jump in here for a second, Peter.

NAVARRO: And my hat, if I had one, is off to President Trump. Yes.

PAYNE: Let me jump in for a second...

NAVARRO: Yes.

PAYNE: ... because I want to get the focus on China.

Now, when the reciprocal barriers were put out there, a lot of people were curious, like why such high numbers for Laos and these other countries? To me, it felt like you guys are forming an economic blockade around China so that they couldn't cheat on any potential deals out there.

So there's no doubt you're singly focusing on China.

NAVARRO: Yes.

PAYNE: And also the notion that somehow they have lost, right? Yesterday, South Korea -- even though on Friday we saw the South Korean minister locking arms with China and Japan, they said no. They have rejected China.

Is this a wholesale rejection of the rest of the world of China in this negotiation?

NAVARRO: Charles, what we saw from the rest of the world X-China was a willingness, in fact, an eagerness to talk to us in a recognition that they'd been cheating us for years.

And they're the ones that cooperate. China has -- look, China chosen their path. They chose not to negotiate at all with President Donald John Trump. And so we are in this situation. And China, we got the biggest trade deficit with them. They -- of all the cheating they do, they do the most comprehensive set of cheating.

I called it the seven deadly sins in the first term. It's up to about the 10 deadly sins now. But here's the thing. We got 90 days. And in a very methodological way, we're going to have countries come in. And the previous show where they're talking about Bessent, Lutnick that, as if there's a riff, we are all on the same page.

And it comes from the president. You have got Scotty. You have got Howard. You have got Jamieson Greer. You have got Kevin Hassett.

PAYNE: Right.

NAVARRO: You have got the vice president, J.D. Vance, making a beautiful contribution on this.

And we're all doing our job for the president. And this is the result. I mean, the tale of the tape today, tells you everything...

PAYNE: Peter, I got to admit, though...

NAVARRO: ... that all the nervous Nellies on Wall Street were too nervous. You got to trust in Trump. America trusts in Trump.

PAYNE: I got to admit, though, Peter, that, on Friday...

NAVARRO: Yes.

PAYNE: ... I put out a post on X. And I was saying, OK, the commodities markets, you need three things, moving on the big, beautiful tax bill that you just talked about.

NAVARRO: Yes. Yes.

PAYNE: We'd like to hear some deals that are coming on. And then I said, more Bessent, right?, because it felt like he was more of the architect.

And then, of course, the donnybrook that you have had with Elon Musk, is today in some way of repudiation of you? Are you taking a back seat and Bessent now in the driver's seat?

NAVARRO: As I just said, it's the whole team. We work together beautifully.

I mean, Scotty is one of my best friends. We have known each other for years now. And this dissension...

PAYNE: I'm not disputing that you're friends, but I'm just saying, with respect to messaging, because yesterday or the day before, you talked about going after...

NAVARRO: Yes.

PAYNE: ... these deficits in a way that scared the market. Everyone says, OK, let's get a fair, level playing field, but it felt like you wanted to go further.

NAVARRO: Sure. Well, I mean, look, let's -- no, not at all. No, look, Bannon said this once during the first term. I'm the default strategy in a way. If they don't want to cooperate, then they get tariffs, OK? If they cooperate, we talk to them.

I mean, it's a beautiful thing. And I'm telling you, look, Charles, if you went behind the scenes and actually sat in on some of these meetings, we got really smart people. Each has their own comparative advantage. We all get along. We all have great ideas.

PAYNE: There's no disputing that. Listen, Peter, you and I have been friends for a decade.

NAVARRO: And the president -- the president is the one who guides this whole thing.

PAYNE: And you and I have been friends for a decade and we have had some donnybrooks on the air over that time, but the fact of the matter is that it felt like in many ways you and also Lutnick were mucking up the public relations aspect of this.

NAVARRO: No, no, come on. Come on. Come on, Charles.

PAYNE: All right.

NAVARRO: Don't read everything you read -- believe everything you read in the fake news. I mean, who was...

PAYNE: Well, the bottom line is, you have got momentum. The White House has momentum.

NAVARRO: Yes.

PAYNE: President Trump is looking brilliant right now.

NAVARRO: He is. He is.

PAYNE: And, again, I thought him starting so high with tariff levels that no one had thought was possible, no one gamed for, 75 countries coming to the table, we have got 90 days out there.

NAVARRO: Yes.

PAYNE: How soon before we start to hear some of these deals? It sounds like South Korea is close. It sounds like Japan is close.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Yes. We're -- no, no, we're getting -- we're getting folks coming in, in real time.

We have already had people come in, in real time. We're working on things. So this is going to move, move fast and beautifully. And one thing I want to say, Charles, of all the stories that everybody reads out there about dissension in the ranks or this, that and the other thing, have you ever read any story that wasn't based on anonymous sources?

It's all a bunch of bull. I mean...

PAYNE: It wasn't the stories. I saw some of the interviews, though, Peter. And it did feel like you were a little bit off.

Listen, I know your role. You're the guy who's written all these books against China. You saw the threat before most people on Wall Street. But, also, you're not the soft guy. You're a tough dude. And you have gone in there in ways that maybe is great, maybe, but, at times, during the negotiating process, might have thrown things off, might not have been on message.

That's all I was saying. But the bottom line is, this is a great moment for the country.

NAVARRO: No, no. Yes, it is.

PAYNE: And it's a great moment for the White House right now.

NAVARRO: It's absolutely -- and all I have ever said is, this is not a negotiation. It's a national emergency.

PAYNE: Right.

NAVARRO: Well, the president will talk to anybody, and then we loved what we have heard. It's all consistent. It's all consistent.

PAYNE: And the news is phenomenal.

NAVARRO: It is a national emergency. Let's...

PAYNE: It is a national emergency. And you have been...

NAVARRO: Let's not lose sight of that, $1.2 trillion a year.

PAYNE: You have done a great job, Peter.

You have done a great job, bottom line. And it's good to see everyone all hands on deck. And we like all the green we're seeing on the screen right now.

Talk to you again real soon my friend. Thank you.

NAVARRO: One band, one sound, my brother.

PAYNE: All right.

NAVARRO: Good to talk.

END