What Trump's former secretary of state says about his tariff plans

SALT LAKE CITY — Longtime public servant and former Congressman Mike Pompeo once warned voters in his home state of Kansas that electing Donald Trump president in 2016 would only serve to continue the "authoritarian" rule of then-President Barack Obama.

But Pompeo, who had endorsed then-Florida Sen. Marco Rubio early in that election cycle, later shifted his support to Trump and went on to become a trusted member of the 45th president's inner circle, serving first as CIA director and later as secretary of state during Trump's first term.

On Wednesday, Pompeo was in Utah to speak at the Crossroads of the World International Trade Summit, a two-day, invitation-only event sponsored by Zions Bank and World Trade Center Utah that invited "world leaders and top business minds to discuss the uncertainties, trends, and opportunities surrounding international business."

Issues surrounding Trump's chaotic international trade policy shifts figured largely in the discussions, and Pompeo, who was interviewed on stage by former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, underscored his feelings about the critical role of the U.S. in the global economy.

What Pompeo said about Trump tariff policy

"We are truly exceptional," Pompeo told the audience of about 500 gathered at the Zions Bancorporation Technology Center in Midvale. "The whole world depends on the success of the United States of America. Without America, without us leading with a good economy, without the innovation of America, the world is lost."

Pompeo argued that no other country is positioned to step into the leadership role that America has occupied since World War II and noted the interdependency of the world's individual economies have been a boon for the U.S. business community and the country as a whole.

"The global economy is deeply interconnected," Pompeo said. "That's important and creates enormous value for the United States of America ... we're not going to make everything here."

Pompeo also offered some insight as a past member of the president's cabinet, noting he believes Trump will continue to wield tariff policy as a tool to address perceived issues with other countries.

"As for President Trump and his tariff policy … you should know he believes it with all his heart, rightly or wrongly," Pompeo said. "He calls himself 'Tariff Man.' Does that leave any doubt in your mind? He believes that bilateral trade deficits in goods are bad, and no one is going to convince him otherwise."

Will Trump tariff approach be successful?

But while Pompeo said Trump may have overreached in his initial rounds of international trade decrees, he believes the president will eventually get to a more balanced policy position.

"(President Trump) recognizes that it's absolutely imperative that when we rebalance this, we don't crush things," Pompeo said. "He may have gotten it wrong in the front end, or at least he was coming out of the gate with the most aggressive posture. I think you'll see the secretary of Treasury begin to try to put these rules in place that really do deliver the right outcome."

In the meantime, Pompeo acknowledged that the current business environment has been roiled by Trump's on-again, off-again tariff declarations.

"President Trump hasn't been clear about his overall strategic objective here," Pompeo said. "He's talked about using tariffs for fentanyl, keeping it out of the country, he's talked about balancing trade, he's talked about bilateral trade deficits. And that is one of the things that is hurting the business community — uncertainty."

That uncertainty was underscored by a group of Utah business leaders who participated in a panel discussion following Pompeo's interview with Herbert.

Here's what Utah businesses have to say

Kimberley Honeysett, chief legal officer for Varex Imaging, an independent supplier of X-ray tubes and image processing solutions for medical and security applications, said her company's strategy of locating manufacturing facilities proximate to customers was being upended by the new tariff policies.

"One of the risks, certainly, for a lot of companies that have both import and export functions is the opposite of what they're trying to accomplish, pushing U.S. manufacturing outside the U.S.," Honeysett said. "The risk is it backfires."

Honeysett explained how trade levies, both those issued by the U.S. and reciprocal actions by other countries, were impacting Varex on both sides of the company's import/export equation.

"We import goods, we're the importer of record, and we get the tariffs, and our prices are increasing," Honeysett said. "We also export, so on the other side, we get the tariff. From our perspective (the U.S. trade policies) are more harmful than beneficial."

John Hortin, chief financial officer for Wavetronix, a Utah-based manufacturer of radar traffic detection devices, said the company's business with China has "dried up," and he and the Wavetronix team are currently navigating trade tariff uncertainty by "biding our time and waiting to see where it will land."

Hortin said he believes U.S. trade policy would lead to more effective outcomes if implementation was strategic and targeted, rather than broad-based.

"It's important to be specific rather than broad," Hortin said. "The rhetoric we're hearing now is we've been taken advantage of across the board. And I'm not sure that's true. Blanket tariffs, I really think, generate the trade war more than solve problems."

Trump announced a raft of country-specific reciprocal tariffs last month along with a blanket 10% levy on foreign imports. On April 9, the president declared a 90-day pause on the reciprocal trade fees but kept the 10% assessment in place. That same day, Trump also announced an increase on imports from China that raised the effective levy on most imports from the country to 145%.

Here's where new U.S. tariffs stand for the moment:

• China tariffs are at 145%, following a series of increases.
• Tariffs of 25% are in place on steel and aluminum imports, imported automobiles and goods from Canada and Mexico not covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
• Imports from all other countries are subject to a 10% trade levy.

The Crossroad of the World Summit continues on Thursday with scheduled speakers including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, former secretaries of state Antony Blinken and Condoleezza Rice, former prime ministers Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and Theresa May of the United Kingdom, and Australia Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd, who is the former prime minister of Australia.

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