Karoline Leavitt says tariffs are nonnegotiable

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there’s nothing other countries can do to stop the tariffs placed on them by President Trump, saying the aggressive trade stance was in response to a “national emergency.”

Ms. Leavitt said the tariffs are “not a negotiation.”

“The president made it clear yesterday, this is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency. He’s always willing to pick up the phone to answer calls. But he laid out the case yesterday for why we’re doing it,” Ms. Leavitt said on CNN. “These countries around the world have had 70 years to do the right thing by the American people, and they have chosen not to. They have ripped off American workers. They have taken our jobs overseas. The president is putting an end to that yesterday.”

Mr. Trump on Wednesday imposed a baseline 10% tariff on all importans and additional, reciprocal tariffs on “worst-offender” countries, hitting them with tariffs equal to half the rate each nation charges on U.S. goods.

Mr. Trump views tariffs as a powerful tool to force companies to return manufacturing to America or keep their operations in the U.S., create jobs for American workers and collect revenue to fund domestic programs.

Foreign countries don’t pay the tariffs directly to the U.S. Treasury. In many cases, U.S. companies will pay the levies, and they might pass on at least some of the cost to consumers through higher prices.

China, which has a tariff rate of 67% on U.S. products, would now see a 34% U.S. tariff on its goods. The E.U., which has a 39% rate on U.S. goods, will get a 20% U.S. levy. There will also be a 25% tariff on automobiles made outside the U.S.

The baseline tariffs will go into effect over the weekend, with the reciprocal tariffs going into effect on April 9.

The automobile tariffs went into effect at midnight Wednesday.

The stock market took a nosedive Thursday in response to the new tariffs. Ms. Leavitt urged Wall Street to “trust in President Trump.”

“This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term,” she said. “We saw wages increase, we saw inflation come down, we had a Trump energy boom, we had the largest tax cuts in history and that’s exactly what the president intends to do following his historic announcement yesterday for reciprocal tariffs.”

She called it “the rule for the golden age of America.”

“This is going to restore more wealth, more jobs, more economic prosperity to our great country,” she said.

When asked about the pushback from foreign leaders, like Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide who suggested that the tariffs possibly violate an article of the NATO treaty, and from U.S. consumers and farmers, Ms. Leavitt said that the president is unwavering in his tariff plan.

“The president is standing up for American farmers,” she said. “The president is doing what’s right for these farmers and to our fellow Americans — we encourage them to buy American.”

She said what people are missing about these tariffs is “the massive revenue” they’re going to bring the country.