Peter Navarro, President Donald Trump‘s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, argued that the president’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are meant to hold countries accountable for abusing exemptions the United States has given to other countries.

Trump signed off on new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 25% on Monday, a move the president argued would be “making America rich again.” Explaining the president’s reasoning, Navarro explained that former President Joe Biden, on his “sleepy watch,” saw multiple exemptions granted to other countries, which created “a flood of aluminum and steel” into the U.S.

“What’s really interesting here, Harris, is it’s not just China and Russia sticking our steel and aluminum markets, it’s all of our friends and allies who we gave special treatment to, and instead of abiding by the rules of that, they abused them,” Navarro explained on Fox News’s The Faulkner Focus. “And Brazil floods us with steel slab, we got Japan on the high specialty end, Australia is just crushing — crushing, with the help of China, our aluminum sector, and the president says ‘no more country exceptions, no more product exclusions,’ which we had over 300,000 of. And off we’re going to run into a beautiful golden age.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called these steel and aluminum tariffs “unjustified,” while leaders in the European Union have vowed to issue retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. In response, Navarro noted that these tariffs are not “new” since Trump introduced them back in his first term in 2018, whereas Biden allowed Canada and other countries “free reign” to flood the U.S. market “going around the Trump tariffs.”

Navarro also dismissed the possibility of these tariffs raising inflation, claiming the tariffs in 2018 created “none.” 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

When signing the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the president promised a “resurgence” in manufacturing within the U.S., saying it is time for “our great industries to come back to America.” 

On Monday, Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) dismissed the possibility of these tariffs raising prices, as the president has used tariffs to “leverage” the U.S. to get better trade. Trump previously issued tariffs against Canada and Mexico before putting them on pause once both countries agreed to provide extra resources to secure the U.S.’s borders.