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Secretary Chris Wright Discusses Tariffs, Fentanyl, and Fair Trade at CERAWeek

March 12, 2025 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:10:47

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What happened

At CERAWeek in Houston, Bloomberg noted a tough market day — oil off 2% and the S&P off almost 3% on growth and tariff fears — and asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright what he would say. Wright said the president is a businessman and negotiator, not a career politician, whose end result has been improvements for the American people; the country was in the midst of a deal and of negotiations, and while the trajectory was toward better business and cost-of-living conditions, there is uncertainty and pain for gain on the road, though how long the pain lasts is tricky, he said, according to the interview.

Wright said the president has two big trade goals. The first, which he said has not been talked about enough, is the 100,000 or more premature deaths of mostly young Americans from fentanyl: the president is massively motivated by it and is working with both the neighbor to the south and the neighbor to the north to shut down fentanyl trafficking as far as possible, Wright said. The second is free trade but fair trade — reciprocal tariffs — citing 250% tariffs on exporting dairy products into Canada, which he said hurts American dairy farmers and makes no sense; the parties should come together to lower tariff barriers together so trade is fair to both sides, as he stated it.

Bloomberg pressed that a tariff on Canadian oil imports could hurt consumers because the U.S. lacks that heavy oil and refiner margins could suffer; Wright began by agreeing it is good for that oil to come into the United States, as the exchange continued.

Why it matters

Wright’s CERAWeek remarks are an early administration statement of the tariff rationale from an economic cabinet secretary: fentanyl enforcement first, reciprocity second — delivered to the energy industry audience most exposed to oil-tariff risk.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright joins Bloomberg’s Alix Steel at CERAWeek in Houston - March 11th, 2025”, 2025-03-12 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-03-12). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.