CBS’ Margaret Brennan grilled Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday. She asked if artificial intelligence had helped shape President Trump’s sweeping new tariff plan.
Trump had just announced his "Liberation Day" policy. It slapped a baseline 10% tariff on all U.S. imports starting Saturday. The move sent shockwaves through the markets.
Investors panicked. The stock market took a nosedive. It was one of the worst days since the 2020 COVID crash.
Brennan called out the randomness of the targeted countries. She even questioned whether AI had written the list.
"[W]hen we saw the president stand in the Rose Garden holding up that chart that you helped make, that wasn't actually tariffs," Brennan said. "That was actually confusing to investors, because it was some kind of other formula, and the countries themselves seemed kind of random. Like, why are the Heard and McDonald Islands, which don't export to the United States and are quite literally inhabited by penguins, why do they face a 10% tariff? Did you use AI to generate this?"
Lutnick chuckled at first. But Brennan kept pressing about those penguin-inhabited islands.
Lutnick finally explained. "What happens is, if you leave anything off the list, the countries that try to basically arbitrage America go through those countries to us," he said.
He continued, "They just built through other countries, through America. And so, the President knows that, he's tired of it, and he's going to fix that."
White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett chimed in on ABC. He said more than 50 countries had reached out to renegotiate trade deals.
Still, Hassett warned, the tariffs could sting at first. Consumers should brace for price hikes. More tariffs are coming April 9.