'Trump deserves Nobel in economics': Top aide Peter Navarro calls tariff move a global reset
As global markets absorb the fallout, U.S. consumers are also feeling the pinch. June prices rose across categories, and legal challenges to Trump’s use of emergency powers are mounting.
- Aug 1, 2025,
- Updated Aug 1, 2025 9:23 AM IST
Peter Navarro wants Donald Trump nominated for a Nobel Prize in economics—not for innovation, but for disruption.
In a Fox Business interview, the White House trade advisor said Trump “taught the world trade economics,” crediting the US president with a “fundamental restructuring” of global commerce.
The comments came just hours after Trump signed a sweeping executive order slapping tariffs on 69 countries and the European Union, part of what the White House calls a “reciprocal trade” push.
The new schedule, set to kick in on August 7, imposes levies as high as 41%. Syria, Myanmar, and Switzerland were among the hardest hit. India faces a flat 25% rate. South Korea bargained down to 15%. Canada, still locked in a fentanyl trade spat, saw its tariff rate raised to 35%.
India—already struggling with muted foreign direct investment and rising capital outflows—was hoping for a reprieve. It didn’t come.
“I don't care what India does with Russia,” Trump said, citing New Delhi’s refusal to curtail oil imports from Moscow. “They can take their dead economies down together.”
The decision shocked Indian officials, who had expected further talks later this month. According to a report from SBI Research, India’s top exports now fall directly in the firing line. Over $6 billion in value-added exports, primarily in textiles and machinery, face an immediate competitiveness squeeze. The report warns of a 15–20% margin hit across key sectors.
India’s top 25 export categories account for 85% of its U.S. trade footprint. A 25% tariff across even half those sectors, SBI says, could widen the trade deficit by $5 billion annually. Several state exporters have already reported halted orders or downward price revisions.
As global markets absorb the fallout, U.S. consumers are also feeling the pinch. June prices rose across categories, and legal challenges to Trump’s use of emergency powers are mounting. Still, Navarro doubled down. “This is the biggest structural shift in trade since Bretton Woods,” he said.
Trump, for his part, says the tariffs are just the beginning.
Peter Navarro wants Donald Trump nominated for a Nobel Prize in economics—not for innovation, but for disruption.
In a Fox Business interview, the White House trade advisor said Trump “taught the world trade economics,” crediting the US president with a “fundamental restructuring” of global commerce.
The comments came just hours after Trump signed a sweeping executive order slapping tariffs on 69 countries and the European Union, part of what the White House calls a “reciprocal trade” push.
The new schedule, set to kick in on August 7, imposes levies as high as 41%. Syria, Myanmar, and Switzerland were among the hardest hit. India faces a flat 25% rate. South Korea bargained down to 15%. Canada, still locked in a fentanyl trade spat, saw its tariff rate raised to 35%.
India—already struggling with muted foreign direct investment and rising capital outflows—was hoping for a reprieve. It didn’t come.
“I don't care what India does with Russia,” Trump said, citing New Delhi’s refusal to curtail oil imports from Moscow. “They can take their dead economies down together.”
The decision shocked Indian officials, who had expected further talks later this month. According to a report from SBI Research, India’s top exports now fall directly in the firing line. Over $6 billion in value-added exports, primarily in textiles and machinery, face an immediate competitiveness squeeze. The report warns of a 15–20% margin hit across key sectors.
India’s top 25 export categories account for 85% of its U.S. trade footprint. A 25% tariff across even half those sectors, SBI says, could widen the trade deficit by $5 billion annually. Several state exporters have already reported halted orders or downward price revisions.
As global markets absorb the fallout, U.S. consumers are also feeling the pinch. June prices rose across categories, and legal challenges to Trump’s use of emergency powers are mounting. Still, Navarro doubled down. “This is the biggest structural shift in trade since Bretton Woods,” he said.
Trump, for his part, says the tariffs are just the beginning.