Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross: China tariffs 'not something that's going to be cataclysmic'

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross downplayed on Thursday the impact of the White House’s move to hit China with 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports, up from its original plan of just 10 percent tariffs. Ross argued that even then, the impact on the U.S. economy would be fairly marginal.

“Well, let’s put it into arithmetic perspective. 25 percent on $200 billion, if it comes to pass, is $50 billion a year. $50 billion a year on an $18 billion or so — $18 trillion or so economy is three-tenths of 1 percent. It’s not something that’s going to be cataclysmic,” Ross told Fox Business Thursday.