Trump Advisers Downplay Court Ruling: Peter Navarro Full Interview

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro appeared on Bloomberg Surveillance following a US court ruling that blocks some tariffs on imports from dozens of countries. He spoke with Bloomberg's Jonathan Ferro and Annmarie Hordern.

Senior White House officials on Thursday downplayed the implications of a court ruling that blocked a swath of President Donald Trump’s tariff measures, and expressed confidence about an appeal.

“If anybody thinks this caught the administration by surprise, think again,” Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Bloomberg Television. “Nothing’s really changed.”

The US Court of International Trade Wednesday found that the president had exceeded his authority in invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify some of his sweeping levies.

“The big picture here is we’ve got a very strong case with IEEPA,” Navarro argued. “But the court basically tells us, if we lose that, we just do some other things.”

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said the administration is not yet pursuing alternative options. Speaking on Fox Business, he said the administration is confident the court ruling is incorrect and that it will be successful on appeal.

“There are different approaches that would take a couple of months to put these in place and using procedures that have been approved in the past or approved in the last administration, but we’re not planning to pursue those right now,” Hassett said.

Navarro said that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will speak on tools available, and that “you’ll be hearing from him soon.” Among the potential measures, Navarro mentioned Section 122 tariffs, which involve levies of up to 15% for 150 days. The reason that wasn’t used at the start was it “only gives you 150 days,” he said.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. earlier said the implications of the court ruling may be limited for the trade talks the Trump administration is engaged with, given the other tariff options available.

--------

Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube

Weekdays 7am-6pm ET

Follow us on X

Subscribe to our Podcasts:

Bloomberg Daybreak

Bloomberg Surveillance

Bloomberg Intelligence

Balance of Power

Bloomberg Businessweek

Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app:

Apple CarPlay

Android Auto

Visit our YouTube channels:

Bloomberg Podcasts

Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Originals