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Charlie Kirk
Hey everybody, it's Kirk. Show what is a tariff and where does that power come from? We explain how it's not a trade war, it's a drug war and how President Trump is going to enrich the country with his recent moves with tariffs. Peter Navarro, counselor to the President of the United States on trade and manufacturing, joins us as we dive into this. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com Become a member today. Members.charliekirk.com that is members.charliekirk. com when you become a member, you help our program stay strong and independent. So please consider becoming a member today. Members.charliekirk.com that is members.charliekirkweb get involved with Turning Point USA, the most important organization in the country at tpusa.com that is tpusa.com Buckle up everybody. Here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
Unknown
Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
Charlie Kirk
I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
Unknown
I want to thank Charlie. He's an incredible guy, his spirit, his love of this country. He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point usa.
We will not embrace the ideas that.
Charlie Kirk
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Unknown
Go to noblegoldinvestments.com.
Charlie Kirk
Happy Monday. Honored to be with you. This is a very rapid developing news day and we are going to break all of the news down from this last weekend starting on Friday, President Donald Trump brilliantly put forward not a threat, but a tariff promise. Now, President Donald Trump did this in a very thoughtful way he's been talking about for quite some time both on the campaign trail and of course throughout his two week presidency that he was going to use tariffs against countries that have been taking advantage of the United States and also to get them to help the United States. President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon evening said, oh, tariffs will be applied on Saturday morning and they were. This last weekend we saw a 25% tariff applied on all Canadian imports, 10% on energy, 25% tariff on all Mexican imports and a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports. Now, mind you, this is the brilliance of President Donald Trump. President Trump wanted to be able to have a window of negotiation. He knew that markets were going to get a little jittery. He knew that markets might have a sell off. So he did this intentionally on Friday to allow a weekend of some negotiation and dialogue when markets are closed so that the Dow does not go down a couple thousand points, so that he has an ability over a Saturday and a Sunday to accept some calls in between golf rounds at Trump national in Palm beach and to negotiate. Now, the tariff power is a very unique power given to the President of the United States. Unlike most economic measures and treaties, it does not require Congress. The President of the United States has unilateral authority to be able to apply tariffs on imported goods in the United States. So what is a tariff? A tariff is a duty. A tariff could be called a tax. But that is a very shallow way of interpreting it. Basically, if I am going to import a car into the United States and that car is $10,000, well, a 25% tariff would then make that car $12,500 and the tariff gets applied on the imported good. This power is derived from several pieces of legislation, of course. The Tariff act of 1930 and then section 301 of the Trade act of 1974 and section 232 of the Trade Expansion act of 1962. This gives the President the power to impose tariffs if deemed necessary for national security. For example, if the United States believes that the importation of certain products threatens national security, the President can apply immediate tariffs. Also, under the International Emergency Economic Powers act, the President can also declare a national emergency and use tariffs and sanctions as he sees fit. The President ran on an America first industrial policy, rebuilding the heartland of this country, but most critically and importantly, stopping the flow of drugs, illegals, guns and fentanyl into our communities. We've seen the wreckage, the damage that has happened because of the porous southern and northern border. Last week we had Josh Parker on the program who is hoping to eventually maybe run for Elise Stefanik's seat in New York. 21 as he was covering the northern border. The terrorists that are coming across the border and Canada with Trudeau and Steinbaum in Mexico have not cared a scintilla about closing their border or mobilizing the military to help stop it. Tariffs are a long term play. This is not about a week of stock market swerves. This is about three things. First, we are serious about using tariffs to force Mexico and Canada to take our border seriously. They've been happy to do nothing and let the entire world pour into our country illegally for criminal or for welfare reasons. We want them to be serious about helping fix this. And the way to do that is to remind them that we can blow up their economies. Mexico does not exist with a 25% tariff. They are a fake country that exists at the will of the American people and at the pleasure of America. If there is a 25% tariff, they collapse. And I have a lot of respect for the Mexican people, for the Mexican culture, when I say that they are fake. It's the sense of if there is a tariff applied to them, they are brittle and fragile. They are wholly dependent on trade with the United States of America. Wholly. They do not exist with a 25% tariff. Period. The way to do this is to remind them that we don't want to destroy your economies, but we're not going to put up with an invasion. And what we have learned over the last couple of years is that the way to stop such invasion and flow of drugs is you must have the intermediary countries such as Mexico or Canada work in collaboration with the United States of America. The second reason for tariffs is to force other countries to stop taking advantage of us in other ways. We can say stop spying on us, stop stealing our patents, stop flooding our market with drugs. And I must also mention not getting as much attention. There is a 10% import tariff on all goods from China. And we'll get to that in a minute. And finally, tariffs are necessary to revive our own economic production. We have become too reliant, way too reliant on other nations for things such as vitamin C making critical pharmaceutical manufacturing. President Donald Trump using these tariffs has brought them to the table. And the breaking news in last hour. The 25% tariff on all goods coming from Mexico has been suspended for one month. In addition, the Mexican government is putting 10,000 of their own troops on the southern border to repel such invasion into the United States of America. President Donald Trump wants that to be zero. President Donald Trump wants to get to the magic number 0. 0 illegals coming into the United States. And yes, we have mobilized our military. Yes, we are no longer doing catch and release, but still, there's too many people coming across the border. A couple hundred a day. Now, mind you, it's down from like 3,000 a day when Joe Biden was president. But Donald Trump is aiming for Project Zero. And understand, when you view all these tariffs, it's about Project Zero. No more Tariffs. No more drugs, no more fentanyl, no more illegals. And you can only do that if you have a cooperative neighbor, we are told for quite some time. Oh, Mexico and Canada, they're wonderful allies, sort of. But they've taken advantage of us for so long. For so long. 75% of all known terrorist watch list suspects cross through Canada, not through Mexico. Remittances from the United States make up roughly 5% of Mexico's GDP. This is the largest source of foreign income for Mexico, surpassing tourism, foreign direct investment and manufacturing exports. This is President Trump addressing These tariffs play cut 10. Are you planning to complete the tariffs against Canada?
Unknown
Well, it could happen. If they do anything, we will. Canada has been very abusive of the United States for many years. They don't allow our banks. Did you know that? Canada does not allow banks to go in. If you think about it, that's pretty amazing. If we have a US bank, they don't allow them to go in. Canada has been very tough on oil, on energy. They don't allow our farm products in, essentially. They don't allow a lot of things in. And we allow everything to come in. It's been a one way street. We subsidize Canada by the tune of about $200 billion a year. And for what? What do we get out of it? We don't get anything out of it. I love the people of Canada. I disagree with the leadership of Canada and something's going to happen there.
Charlie Kirk
Of our entire economy, only 2.5% of our GDP is exports to Canada and Mexico. One third of the Canadian economy, 1/3 of the Canadian economy, is exports from Canada to America. 17% of Mexico is exports from Mexico to America. So basically, they've deindustrialized our country to make their country wealthy while doing nothing to stop the flow of such toxins into the interior of the United States. President Trump is using the tariff power given to him by Congress to defend you, your children, your neighborhoods. And then we're going to talk in the next segment. But how do you avoid a tariff? And this is the long term play. Forget the short term. Stock market ebbs and flows. No, no, no. There is a long term play here of a clear signal. And you're gonna see this grow like a beautiful harvest.
Unknown
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Charlie Kirk
So what is the signal that this sends? By the way, President Trump has now said potentially 10% tariff on all goods from the European Union. Understand that when you are the incumbent economic superpower, people want to do business in your country. We are not Portugal. We are not India. Portugal famously has a lot of tariffs to protect their incumbent industry and it doesn't work great for them. It works good for some of it, but they want to protect port, they want to protect other fine delicacies of the Portuguese culture. That's fine. Good for them. They have every right to be able to do that. We've been told and propagandized by the corporate class that tariffs make you poorer. Tariffs are terrible. So how do you avoid a tariff? And they can never answer this question. The corporate class can never come under examination when it comes to tariffs. In fact, I remember once I was on a cruise ship, a media research center cruise ship with Brent Bozell. Great guy. And they had some corporate class lunatic who was giving a lecture on tariffs about how terrible tariffs are. And he acted as if he was a super smart professor. And I asked him 15 questions and he couldn't answer a single one of them. I said, why is it that during America's greatest prosperity we funded the entire government on tariffs? I asked him, how does one avoid a tariff? He said, well, he did get this question right. Well, you avoid a tariff by making the country in the native. Making the good in the native country. Exactly. So what President Trump is doing is he's signaling, hey, you want to avoid all these tariffs? Build your factory in Lansing, Michigan. You want to avoid this tariff? Build your factory in Mesa, Arizona. You want to avoid the tariff? Build the factory in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It is A forcing function to redomicile factories that otherwise would be in Wuhan, Guadalajara or Winnipeg. It is a forcing function to say that the labor of the world will no longer be used in this massive capital arbitrage that disenfranchises American workers. And has the internationalist corporatist free trade experiment worked? Of course not. Just drive through Ohio, drive through rural Pennsylvania. The first rule of economics is human beings respond to incentives. You want America to make more things, change the incentives. So let's pretend you're a big company. And by the way, the direction right now, there's going to be a manufacturing renaissance in this country like you've never seen. Because advanced 3D manufacturing is where all the smart money is going right now. It's going to require high tech jobs, engineers incorporated, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics. So that's where all of the smart capital is going right now, is that we are going to have a hardware. That's right, a hardware breakthrough the likes of which no one saw coming. So let's pretend you're a big company and you're thinking of where to make your factory. You don't want to have a 25% duty put on your products. So you say, hey, let's go build it in Tampa. Exactly. And there's no tariff. You build your product here, there is no tariff. One of the most famous tariffs that we talk about on this program is that There is a 25% import tariff to this day that Lyndon Baines Johnson put on the books on pickup trucks. Do you know that every pickup truck you see on the highway has a 25% tariff? So how does Toyota avoid the pickup truck tariff? They don't need to re headquarter the Japanese company. That's never ever been the ask. We don't want Porsche to be headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut. No, you just make the actual product here. And that is what Toyota does for their pickup truck. That is what Nissan does for their pickup truck. I know people that have Hondas that are made in America. And that's exactly what we want. Employ American labor, hire American workers. And the end result is we can still export pickup trucks to the rest of the world. You look at what we've done with pickup trucks, again, the corporate class, the Koch brothers, they have been so they've propagandized us because all they cared about was one thing, the lowest possible price for a good import into the country. So we have piles of plastic that are littering our garages. We have garage sales of stuff that we have no attachment to. And we have entire communities look as if it's been Dresden. This was China's strategy. They spent years using tariffs and effort to build up their manufacturing capacity. Now they are the world's best in many fields and the world has no choice but to buy their stuff because it's the best. But there is a new renaissance coming where we can beat China. It's advanced manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, 3D manufacturing and highly sophisticated robotics that is coming around the corner. And we want America to be the center of the planet for that golden era. And you do that by a forcing function. You want to avoid the tariff, build your good in East Palestine, Ohio, even.
Unknown
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Charlie Kirk
Joining us now is a dear friend and fellow warrior for America, Peter Navarro. Peter, welcome to the program Counselor for Trade and manufacturing directly to the President United States. Peter, great to see you my friend.
Peter Navarro
Brother Kirk man, how you doing?
Charlie Kirk
Doing great, Peter, and always fun to run into you as you are trying to make things happen. Peter, explain to the audience here what the President is doing with his tariff strategy and implementation. Peter, the floor is yours.
Peter Navarro
In this case, we have a drug war against the American people on the campaign trail. Charlie, as you well know, the President promised the American people that people would stop dying from deadly Chinese fentanyl coming in through Mexico and Canada. It's important to understand how this works. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. A grain of it can kill you. It's one of the most potent drugs ever made. Communist China has been making the precursor Chemicals. For years now, going back to when I was with President Trump in his first term, we were fighting this battle. And what the Chinese do is they export the chemicals to Mexico. And then the Mexican drug cartels have their little factories in processing where they make straight fentanyl pills, but they also use the fentanyl to lace other drugs, anything from heroin and speed and so on. And next week when the super bowl happens in New Orleans, it's eerie. The number of people are going to be sitting in the Superdome. About 75,000 is roughly equal to the number of Americans who have been dying every year because of this problem. And Charlie, what's interesting is as well for your demographic, your show, of course, you are the king of informing younger folk, the people who are dying in most numbers are in the 18 to 45 prime working age brackets. So I'm going long on this to explain just how difficult this situation is. And so once it gets to Mexico, the cartels are going up to Canada. There's also a bunch of it coming in from China directly through the. The stuff is so small, it comes in through packets. And the president said this is stopping. And what he has done is use the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. Emergency Economic Powers Act. I eapa, that's what it's called, which provides the President broad authority in times of crisis, in this case a public health crisis and a border security crisis, to use tools such as tariffs to solve the problem. So the tariffs were opposed on Saturday by the stroke of a pen with three countries. China gets 10% tariffs, Mexico and Canada, 25% tariffs. Breaking news. Just this morning, the President and the Mexican president were able to successfully negotiate a 30 day pause in the tariffs. We're going to get 10,000 more troops at the border, Charlie, and a whole bunch of other stuff. The Mexican government has actually been very helpful and willing to negotiate. It's in sharp contrast to Canada. Canada has basically declared a trade war upon us when what we are dealing with is a drug war. Canada has a lame duck prime minister who seems to want to go out in a flourish, but who seemingly has no regard for either the welfare of Canadians or welfare of the American people. And so this is where things stand at this point. The president has taken firm action to save lives. And I mean, it's a carnage. More people die every year. Charlie from Fentanyl than died in the Vietnam War. I mean, this is unimaginable. And the President's gonna put a stop to it.
Charlie Kirk
Sir Peter, explain how the White House views the implementation of Tariffs to protect American industry and to have a forcing function of redomiciling industry against what would be the typical neoliberal Washington D.C. corporate consensus. Explain the philosophical worldview difference that President Trump has.
Peter Navarro
The globalist view of the world, which is rooted in this thing called the Ricardian trade model, which every undergraduate is spot in our ivory tower schools, says that if you have free trade among countries and labor and capital are mobile, you'll have a bigger economic pie because everything's more efficient and life will be better for everybody. But when you read the fine print of that globalist model, you see that it falls completely apart immediately because first of all, some countries win, some countries lose. And second of all, there's no such thing as free trade. The United States is the uncle sucker of the world when it comes to trade. We have the lowest tariffs, lowest trade barriers in the world. We've got a trillion dollar trade deficit every year as a result. And what President Trump's view of the world, nationalist, economic, populist view of the world, if I may, is, is that it's America first. We have to defend our factories and jobs and sovereignty against unfair trade. And the sovereignty comes in by the fact that when you run trillion dollar trade deficit a year, that's money that basically the foreigners then use to buy pieces of America. And that's an unsustainable equilibrium. So with respect to the different kinds of things the President's going to be doing, it's in different buckets. There's a commitment to a global tariff. This is to deal with the trade deficit issue. There's a review of steel and aluminum tariffs, which were successfully put on by President Trump in 2018, but which have been eroded by the Biden administration. And then there's the strategic and national security type tariffs. So I remember, I think in some sense, the boss was inspired by the first time we closed the border. Charlie. I was there in the Oval when the President asked whether we could impose tariffs on Mexico to force them to seal the border. And he looked at me, I said, yeah, sure. And he looked at Pat Cibollone, the White House legal counsel. Pat said, yes, he made that threat to Mexico. And within 24 hours after globalist heads exploded, sure enough, Mexico sent 20,000 troops to the border and signed the remain in Mexico policy. And boom, done. So the current issue here is a drug war, not a trade war. We're trying to stop flow of fentanyl. And by the way, Canada is a very bad actor in this. It's not just that they're Allowing these Mexican drug cartels in the labs and that they've got the fentanyl coming in in small packages across their border. There's been almost 100 terrorists on the watch list that we've apprehended here in America that came through that northern border. And it's like they should be bending over backward to help us stop this carnage. And that's where things are as we. As we talk right now.
Charlie Kirk
In closing here, Peter, are we in a trade war?
Peter Navarro
We are not in a trade war. We are in a drug war. We are in a war with the Chinese chemical producers, the Mexican drug cartels, and the Canadian authorities who are allowing fentanyl and other drugs and contraband and terrorists into our country. And look, I mean, Charlie, it's like the border security issue, I think, was the single most important issue in this election, followed only by the trade issue. The President. Promises made, Promises in cap. No one knows better than Charlie Kirk that the President keeps his promise and he's going to stop fentanyl from killing all of these Americans. And he's going to do it by forcing China, Mexico, and Canada to put an end to what they're doing with respect to that trade. And they all have a role. Each one of them has a different role in the process. But when you add it all up, the three of those countries have the capabilities to stop killing Americans, and that's what they're gonna do, or we're going to do what we're doing.
Charlie Kirk
Peter, I know the President is operating at a rapid pace. Give us a little window into the tempo of what you're seeing in the White House right now.
Peter Navarro
Totally different from the first term. We were turtles, now we're thoroughbred horses. We're at the top of the learning curve rather than at the bottom. We had a record number of executive orders signed on day one, and we're just going for the trade thing. I urge everybody to read the presidential memorandum, the America first trade policy that lays out the entire agenda for the next hundred days. And you'll see everything from investigations about possible global trade, export controls, currency manipulation, steel and aluminum tariffs, critical minerals, including the rare earths, essential medicines. It's all laid out in that presidential memorandum, Charlie. And all you have to do, if you're a good journalist, is read it, and you'll get great insight into the trajectory of the trade policy.
Charlie Kirk
Peter.
Peter Navarro
Love what you do, Charlie.
Charlie Kirk
Thank you.
Peter Navarro
Yeah, I want to just. I always say this when I come on, and I always mean it. You have done more than anyone to mobilize the youth of America on behalf of President Trump and the Republican Party and sir, I salute you.
Charlie Kirk
Peter. You're a great friend. We have your back. 100%, you know that. Keep on protecting America and our interests. God bless you, Peter. See you soon. Thank you.
Unknown
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Charlie Kirk
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Charlie Kirk
We have a lot to still cover here. USAID, which is a racket, it is a fraudulent racket, is just going to be shut down. Just put people on administrative leave. There is this coming constitutional collision point and it's all around the Impoundment Act. It's common like a freight train. Does the executive branch have to spend everything that Congress has appropriated? And if your answer is yes, then you don't believe in equal branches. You believe in Article 1 supremacy. You believe in legislative supremacy. The founders wanted equal branches that are constantly bickering with one another. They did not want to have a superseding legislative branch. And if we're honest with ourselves, we have a supremacist article one and then we have this article like fourth branch government that comes together and this article two is basically the executive branch has become this weak force, feeble, basically performative branch. And President Trump is bringing it back to the vim and vigor that the founders envisioned. So the DNC had their winter meeting. A lot happened at the DNC and you have to wonder for those of us that are conservatives and want to see the Republican party go into a red rain R E I G N have the Democrats decided to adjust to adapt to read the country and to understand that they're a deeply unpopular, hated organization. The Democrat Party is hated. In fact, someone came up to me yesterday, said, charlie, congratulations on the election. I voted for Trump. It wasn't because I liked Trump. It's because I wanted to repudiate the Democrat Party from all sectors of life. First time ever voting. Wow. This is your average kind of taste. A little appetizer, a little chef's tasting, if you will. A little amuse. Bouche of the DNC. Play cut 36.
Unknown
Good afternoon, DNC. Hello, Democrats. Hey, I am speaking and I would love your attention. There is a black woman at this podium and I deserve your attention like the 11 people who went before me. Yes, I am speaking. Good evening, Democrats. Look up here. Three strong black women standing before you. Three black women who, rather than just grabbing a chair, ran for chair. My name is Artie Blanco, Freddie Blanco's daughter. Vote for me for vice chair. Look at this room. Y'all truly take it in. This is the Democratic Party. We are our strongest when we stand together.
F
We are in a time in this country when our democracy and our rights are under attack. We're at a time where black and brown people, women and other minorities are being blamed for everything that's wrong with this country.
Unknown
So let's fight together for a stronger and more inclusive Democratic Party.
Charlie Kirk
That's. That's at the DNC meeting. This is a great clip here. The DNC chair gets confused by his own party's rules for their gender balance provisions. Has to hand over the mic to somebody else who can't explain it. This is just delicious. Play cut 39.
Unknown
We're going to expedite.
F
We're finding out ways to expedite this because of our gender balance provisions. On this next ballot, you will be able to vote for two candidates of any gender on the next ballot. Okay? So on this next ballot, you will be able to vote for two candidates of any gender. On the next ballot, if two candidates receive. I'm going to turn to Helen to clarify this last part.
Unknown
You are in this next ballot where you have two votes. As the chair has said, you may vote for two males, two females, two of any gender. Okay? Nope, you can't do that because we've got to balance. You could vote for one of any gender. Okay? Non binary gender. Excuse me.
Charlie Kirk
You want to know how did we win? How did this happen? Everybody, this was. This last weekend. There's been no adjusting. There's been no adaptation. There's been no soul searching. They don't even know their own rules. They gotta go bring on some person. Well, you know, non binary, one male, female, no humility. Look, I don't want to get too high on our own supply as conservatives, but I'm feeling very, very bullish. Not because of anything that we're doing, which by the way, we're fulfilling promise after promise. This is our opposition. This is what we're up against. That is the state of the new and improved Democrat Party. It's not so new and not so improved. Thanks so much for listening everybody. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much for listening. God bless.
Peter Navarro
For more on many of these stories and news you can Trust, go to charliekirk.com.
The Charlie Kirk Show: "Trump's Favorite Word: Tariffs" – Detailed Summary
Release Date: February 3, 2025
In this engaging episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk delves into the strategic use of tariffs under President Donald Trump's administration. The episode, titled "Trump's Favorite Word: Tariffs," offers an in-depth analysis of how tariffs are employed not merely as economic tools but as instruments in a broader national strategy encompassing trade negotiations, border security, and combating the deadly fentanyl crisis.
Charlie Kirk begins by defining tariffs and elucidating their significance in the current political and economic landscape:
[10:00] Charlie Kirk: "A tariff is a duty. A tariff could be called a tax. Essentially, if I am going to import a car into the United States and that car is $10,000, well, a 25% tariff would then make that car $12,500."
Kirk explains that tariffs are not merely financial impositions but strategic moves designed to protect American industries and enforce fair trade practices. He highlights President Trump's deliberate timing in implementing tariffs to create a negotiation window without alarming the markets:
[03:15] Charlie Kirk: "President Donald Trump wanted to be able to have a window of negotiation... he did this intentionally on Friday to allow a weekend of some negotiation and dialogue when markets are closed."
Delving into the legislative framework, Kirk outlines the legal basis that grants the President the authority to impose tariffs unilaterally:
[06:30] Charlie Kirk: "The tariff power is a very unique power given to the President of the United States. Unlike most economic measures and treaties, it does not require Congress."
He references key legislations such as the Tariff Act of 1930, the Trade Act of 1974, and the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which collectively empower the President to impose tariffs for national security and economic stability.
A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico:
[09:22] Charlie Kirk: "Mexico does not exist with a 25% tariff. They are a fake country that exists at the will of the American people and at the pleasure of America."
Kirk emphasizes the economic dependency of these nations on the United States and how tariffs serve as leverage to compel them to collaborate on pressing issues like border security and drug trafficking. He underscores that these measures are part of a long-term strategy to ensure national sovereignty and security.
The episode features a pivotal conversation with Peter Navarro, President Trump's counselor on trade and manufacturing. Navarro provides expert insights into the intertwining of tariffs with the broader drug war:
[19:16] Peter Navarro: "We are not in a trade war. We are in a drug war. We are in a war with the Chinese chemical producers, the Mexican drug cartels, and the Canadian authorities who are allowing fentanyl and other drugs and contraband and terrorists into our country."
Navarro elaborates on the severity of the fentanyl crisis, attributing the flow of this deadly substance to the collaborative failures of China, Mexico, and Canada. He explains how tariffs are being used as enforcement tools to curb the influx of fentanyl by pressuring these countries to tighten their border controls and combat drug trafficking effectively.
A core theme of the episode is the philosophical contrast between President Trump's nationalist approach and the prevailing globalist mentality:
[23:43] Peter Navarro: "The globalist view of the world... says that if you have free trade among countries and labor and capital are mobile, you'll have a bigger economic pie because everything's more efficient and life will be better for everybody. But... it falls completely apart immediately because... some countries win, some countries lose."
Navarro criticizes the globalist perspective for fostering unequal trade relations and maintaining a significant trade deficit for the United States. He champions Trump's "America First" policy, which prioritizes domestic industries, job protection, and economic sovereignty over multinational trade agreements that disadvantage American workers.
Looking ahead, both Kirk and Navarro discuss the long-term implications of Trump's tariff strategy. Kirk predicts a manufacturing renaissance in the United States driven by advanced technologies such as 3D manufacturing and robotics:
[16:50] Charlie Kirk: "There is going to be a manufacturing renaissance in this country like you've never seen... it's a hardware breakthrough the likes of which no one saw coming."
Navarro adds that these tariffs serve as a "forcing function" to encourage companies to relocate their manufacturing bases to the U.S., thereby reducing dependency on foreign labor and materials. This strategic shift aims to revitalize American industries and ensure economic resilience.
In the latter part of the episode, Kirk shifts focus to critique the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and its recent activities:
[34:20] Charlie Kirk: "This is our opposition. This is what we're up against. That is the state of the new and improved Democrat Party."
Kirk mocks the DNC's internal struggles with gender balance provisions and their apparent disconnect from voter sentiments, suggesting that the Democratic Party is out of touch and struggling to maintain relevance in the current political climate.
Charlie Kirk on Tariffs as Strategic Tools:
[10:00] "A tariff is a duty. A tariff could be called a tax. Essentially, if I am going to import a car into the United States and that car is $10,000, well, a 25% tariff would then make that car $12,500."
Peter Navarro on the Nature of the Conflict:
[19:16] "We are not in a trade war. We are in a drug war."
Charlie Kirk on Economic Sovereignty:
[23:21] "Sir Peter, explain how the White House views the implementation of Tariffs to protect American industry and to have a forcing function of redomiciling industry against what would be the typical neoliberal Washington D.C. corporate consensus."
Peter Navarro on Globalist Failures:
[23:43] "The globalist view... falls completely apart immediately because... some countries win, some countries lose."
In "Trump's Favorite Word: Tariffs," Charlie Kirk effectively unpacks the multifaceted role of tariffs in President Trump's administration. By intertwining economic strategies with national security imperatives, the episode portrays tariffs as pivotal instruments in the fight against illegal drug trafficking and in the pursuit of economic independence. Guest Peter Navarro reinforces this narrative by emphasizing the departure from globalist ideologies towards a more nationalist and protectionist stance. Additionally, Kirk's critique of the Democratic Party underscores the contrasting approaches within the current political landscape. This comprehensive exploration provides listeners with a nuanced understanding of the strategic deployment of tariffs and their broader implications for America's future.