White House Adviser Slams New York Fed Tariff Study

Hassett calls the research an 'embarrassment' with flawed methodology and unsupported conclusions

Published on Feb. 22, 2026

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White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett sharply criticized a recent Federal Reserve Bank of New York study on the impact of tariffs, calling its methodology fundamentally flawed and its conclusions unsupported by the data. Hassett argued the study ignored crucial economic factors like reduced import volumes, shifts in sourcing, increased domestic production, and wage effects from onshoring.

Why it matters

The New York Fed study concluded that nearly 90% of the economic burden from tariffs fell on U.S. companies and consumers, which contradicts the White House's claims that tariffs have benefited American workers and the economy. Hassett's criticism highlights the ongoing debate over the real-world impacts of the Trump administration's trade policies.

The details

Hassett said the study's narrow focus on whether foreign exporters lowered prices in response to tariffs missed the broader economic story. He pointed to actual outcomes like rising real wages and low import price inflation that he said contradicted the study's implications. Hassett suggested the study's flaws were so severe that the 'people associated with this paper should presumably be disciplined'.

  • The New York Fed study was published on February 12, 2026.
  • Hassett criticized the study in a CNBC interview on February 18, 2026.

The players

Kevin Hassett

White House National Economic Council Director and a key economic adviser to President Trump.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

A regional Federal Reserve bank that published the study on the impact of tariffs that Hassett criticized.

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What they’re saying

“The paper is an embarrassment. What they've done is they put out a conclusion which has created a lot of news that's highly partisan, based on analysis that wouldn't be accepted in a first-semester econ class.”

— Kevin Hassett, White House National Economic Council Director (CNBC)

What’s next

The White House is likely to continue pushing back against research that contradicts its claims about the benefits of tariffs, as Hassett's strong criticism suggests. The debate over the real-world impacts of the administration's trade policies is expected to intensify as the 2020 election approaches.

The takeaway

This episode highlights the politically-charged nature of economic analysis around the Trump administration's trade policies, with the White House aggressively disputing research that undermines its narrative. It underscores the challenges in objectively assessing the complex, multifaceted effects of tariffs on the U.S. economy.