On April 14, 2025, at the White House in Washington, DC, the National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett speaks to a reporter.
Kevin Lamarck | Reuters
President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser expressed confidence on Thursday that an appeal would overturn the court’s ruling to abandon offensive tariffs.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview that fair trade is completely legal and that he fully believes in the administration’s efforts to use tariffs to resume soon.
“We’re right that America is being mistreated by other governments,” Hassett said in a business interview with Fox. “This trade negotiation season is really, really effective for the American people.”
The comments said Trump has surpassed his authority over tariffs following a ruling from an International Trade Court judge. It aims to block the barriers to American goods overseas and the flow of fentanyl across the US border.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say fentanyl is a major factor in overdose deaths in the country, but the judge ruled that the associated tariffs “will fail because they don’t address the threats listed in those orders.”
Hassett bristled the ruling and said the administration would continue its anti-fentanyl efforts.
“These activist judges are trying to slow something down in the middle of a really important negotiation,” he said. “The idea that the US fentanyl crisis is not an emergency is so scary to me that I am sure this decision will be overturned when we sue.”
The administration has multiple options to avoid judge rulings, including other sections of other trade laws that it can be used. But Hassett said that is not a plan at this time.
“The fact is that there are steps that can be taken with different numbers that can be started right now. There are different approaches that take months to implement these,” he said. “We are very sure this verdict is wrong so we are not going to pursue them now.”
