Trump Adviser Says Countries Offering Zero Tariffs Isn’t Good Enough
Peter Navarro is moving the goalposts on Trump’s “retaliatory” tariffs.

One of Donald Trump’s top economic advisers, Peter Navarro, is blowing off an offer from Vietnam to eliminate all of its tariffs on American goods.
In an interview on CNBC Monday, Navarro said that the country’s offer was not enough for the U.S. to lift its tariffs against Vietnam, saying that it “means nothing.”
“When they come to us and say, ‘We’ll go to zero tariffs,’ that means nothing to us because it’s the nontariff cheating that matters,” Navarro said, by which he meant the routing of Chinese products through Vietnam, intellectual property theft, and a value-added tax. Later, though, Navarro conceded that zero tariffs would be a “small first start.”
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— The Sphere Report (@thespherereport) April 7, 2025
Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, recently disclosed that President Trump is unwilling to enter trade negotiations with countries offering to eliminate tariffs unless the talks also address non-tariff barriers affecting American goods.
Take Vietnam, for… pic.twitter.com/RWOhOBo0ae
Navarro’s tone contradicts Trump’s post on Truth Social Friday where he bragged about Vietnam’s offer to cut tariffs to zero, showing that the Trump administration is not on the same page when it comes to the president’s tariffs, introduced last week on April 2 in an event Trump dubbed “Liberation Day.”
The chaos over the tariff plan has not only led to chaos in international markets but has spooked even officials within the Trump administration, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is reportedly eyeing the exits. But not Navarro: He’s staked his career and what little remains of his credibility on the idea.
The Harvard-educated economist, who also worked in the first Trump administration, has been pushing for tariffs for years, citing the work of economics expert “Ron Vara” in many of his books. The problem is that Ron Vara is actually a person Navarro made up to bolster his own ideas, and the name is even an anagram of Navarro.
After serving four months in prison for defying a subpoena from Congress’s January 6 committee, Navarro was given a lifeline by Trump, who tapped him to work in his administration. Now it seems that Navarro is the idea man for these tariffs, having successfully convinced the president of the plan’s (not at all) genius. When the promised economic boom doesn’t come, will he get the blame?