Former Treasury secretary on Trump's tariffs: 'People are overreacting a bit'
Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he disagrees with analysts who have sounded alarms about a potential economic slowdown and thinks “people are overreacting a bit” to the new Trump administration’s policy changes.
“I don’t think anybody should look at what’s a natural, healthy correction of these indexes as indicating that the economy’s in trouble,” he said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
President Trump's escalating trade tensions and oscillating policies with Canada, Mexico and China have sent the stock market reeling in recent days, and the Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices ticked up during Trump’s first full month in office. Economists have expressed concerns about a possible recession, though Mnuchin said he disagrees.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a recession," he said. "I don’t think the outlook looks like we’re going to have a recession."
Trump has demurred on the country's economic outlook and on Sunday downplayed the recession talks.
Mnuchin, who served most of Trump's first term and is now in the private sector, said he prefers to look at long-term markets, rather than day-to-day activities.
"I always said I was focused on the stock market longer term, not where it was on any day," he said. "And I do think the stock market longer term is a great parameter of the economy."
Mnuchin sees similarities in Trump's economic policies today compared to his previous term, he said.
"His focuses on the economic issues are tax cuts, regulatory relief and trade, and the president has always believed in having tariffs, so, I think, that's what we're seeing in the market today," he said.
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