U.S. President Donald Trump holds a chart next to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick as Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that the 10% baseline tariff rate on imports from other countries is likely to “be in place for the foreseeable future,” echoing President Donald Trump’s comments from days prior.
“We do expect a 10% baseline tariff to be in place for the foreseeable future,” Lutnick told CNN’s Dana Bash on ‘State of the Union.’
The commerce secretary rejected the idea that consumers would take on increased costs caused by the tariffs, insisting that business and countries will pay.
But data suggests that businesses are already trying to pass costs onto consumers, and consumer confidence has plunged in the weeks since the president’s April 2 tariff announcement. The prices of some household items have also already ticked up.
“Businesses, their job is to try to sell to the American consumer, and domestically produced products are not going to have that tariff, so the foreigners are going to finally have to compete,” Lutnick said.
Lutnick’s comments came days after Trump said from the White House that the 10% tariff rate will likely be the floor for trade deals, and the rate could be “much higher” for some countries.
The United States reached a trade agreement with the United Kingdom last week, but the 10% baseline tariff still applies to most goods imported to the U.S.
Trump also suggested that the 10% baseline number on products from the United Kingdom is a “low number.”
“They made a good deal,” Trump said of the United Kingdom.
“Some will be much higher because they have massive trade surpluses,” he also said.
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