White House Official: U.S. Imposing Tariffs As Part Of ‘Drug War,’ Not ‘Trade War’

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett argued on Sunday that the administration’s tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China were not about a trade war, but a drug war.

Hassett made the remarks during a Sunday interview on ABC News’ “This Week” when asked what was driving President Donald Trump’s decision-making on the matter.

“What happened was that we launched a drug war, not a trade war, and it was part of a negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders,” he said. “And as we’ve watched them make progress on the drug war, then we’ve relaxed some of the tariffs that we put on them because they’re making progress. And so, that drug war is something that’s been going on since really the beginning of the Trump administration.”

He said that the administration was going to release a study in April highlighting the harm done to the American economy by foreign nations that have placed tariffs on products from the United States.

“Between now and then, we’ve got the drug war which we’re hopefully going to solve by the end of the month,” he said. “Hopefully, that we’ll actually round up, you know, the people in the cartels and stop the flow of fentanyl that’s killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, and then we’ll be focused on the reciprocal thing.”

“And now on the reciprocal thing, remember that just about every country on Earth charges a much higher tariff than we do,” he added. “And so, when we pass an act that says that we’re going to have the same tariff they charge us, then you’re covering it as if the only possible outcome is that our tariffs go up. But maybe they decide to go down, right?”

WATCH:

“We launched a drug war, not a trade war — and it was part of a negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders,” Pres. Trump’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett says of the administration’s tariffs. https://t.co/vbFR5Md1S9 pic.twitter.com/C2qC94yDx2

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 9, 2025