Kevin Hassett agreed that the potential rollout of tariff refunds “is a mess” after trying—and failing—to explain how the system would actually work.
“It would be very complicated,” he told host Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday. It was soon after the Director of the National Economic Council, 63, seemingly admitting that some impacts of tariffs were, in fact, paid by companies and consumers.
Donald Trump’s refund plan has been floated for months, with the president’s brainwave of issuing $2000 rebates currently tied to a larger tariff debate in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court decision could decide that Trump’s tariffs are constitutional, in which case the president won’t find it easy to send out his sweeping refunds.
“If the Supreme Court doesn’t find in your favor, who gets the refund? Is it the companies or is it the consumers? How does that work?” Brennan asked.
“Yeah. You know, we really expect the Supreme Court is going to find with us. And I also think that if they didn’t find with us, it’s going to be pretty unlikely they will call for widespread refunds because it would be an administrative problem to get those refunds out there,” Hassett riddled.
He added: “But basically whoever paid the tariff, like actually cut the check to buy the thing, would be the person who would be getting the refund if there were one.”
Considering Trump has repeatedly claimed that tariffs weren’t paid from below, Brennan quickly asked: “Doesn’t the administration claim it was the country that paid that? You’re saying it’s the company.”
Hassett seemed momentarily stumped, stammering over his words before saying, “So in the end who pays the tariff depends on the elasticity of supply and demand. Post-tariff price from Chinese foods is about what it was before the tariff.”
Trump’s plan to distribute $2,000 checks to Americans has already caused turmoil within the Republican Party. In November, several top Republicans spoke with the press, criticizing the move. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it would be better to use any tariff revenue to pay down the national debt. This context didn’t seem to have gone unnoticed by Hassett, who continued his convoluted explanation.
“But the people who pay the tariff—if there is a refund, the people who actually paid for the good, the importer in most cases, they are the ones who would be the first line of defense for refunding the tariff.”
The economist continued: “But I really, really don’t think that’s going to happen. It would be very complicated. Then that person would be responsible for allocating the tariff refund to the appropriate folks.”
“That sounds like a mess,” Brennan summarized, with Hassett agreeing: “Yes, it is a mess. And that’s why I think the Supreme Court wouldn’t do it.”
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