Do not worry about Wednesday morning's 0.3% gross domestic product dip from January through March under President Donald Trump, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Newsmax.
"If you think about GDP, domestic production, when they know tariffs are coming, all the foreigners just pour it in," Lutnick told "Rob Schmitt Tonight" in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
"So while there's lots for sale, it's not domestically produced product.
"So that's a natural reaction."
The January-March expansion of the nation's GDP was the slowest in almost three years and was down from 2.4% in the last three months of 2024.
Imports shaved 5 percentage points off first-quarter growth.
"It doesn't mean it's bad for Americans at all," Lutnick told host Rob Schmitt in a wide-ranging, nearly 25-minute interview. "It just means the foreigners tried to pour it in real quick and this is the natural outcome."
Unlike the Biden-era inflation claim of it being transitory, this just flushed itself, according to Lutnick.
"It goes away in a quarter or two, so this kind of stuff you shouldn't pay too much attention to," he said.
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.