Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday sought to defend Donald Trump’s nonsensical tariff policy by falsely saying that the massive tariffs the administration placed on nearly every item imported into the U.S. won’t raise prices and that no one will feel any pain.
Lutnick made the comment at an event hosted by the media outlet Axios, where he told the audience that sellers won’t raise prices—even though major big-name retailers and manufacturers like Walmart, Mattel, and Nike have already said they will be forced to shift tariff costs onto consumers.
“You go to the store now, are you feeling the pain ? No. Why not? Because there is no pain,” Lutnick, a billionaire, told the audience.
He then told the audience that tariffs have been in place since April and asked, “Have any of you felt any of it? Seriously.”
Lutnick was clearly expecting the audience to say no. But the audience replied with a resounding “yes,” which stunned him into an awkward silence.
