White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett criticized a New York Federal Reserve paper that said U.S. companies and consumers bear a heavy burden from President Donald Trump's tariffs.

In a CNBC interview Wednesday, Hassett said the authors should be "disciplined."

"It's, I think, the worst paper I've ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve system," he said.

The New York Fed paper, published Feb. 12, said about 90% of the tariff burden was being borne domestically rather than absorbed by foreign exporters.

The researchers looked at whether exporters lowered prices to offset tariffs or raised prices and passed the costs on to U.S. buyers, and they found most of the added costs were passed through.

Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said the analysis was flawed and that Fed staffers ignored how duties work by focusing on prices and omitting changes tied to increased domestic production.

"I mean, the paper is an embarrassment," Hassett said during CNBC's "Squawk Box" interview.

"The people associated with this paper should presumably be disciplined, because what they've done is they've 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."

Hassett said tariffs had little impact on prices and argued consumers were better off, citing inflation, import prices, and wages.

"Prices have gone down. Inflation is down over time. Import prices dropped a lot in the first half of the year, that leveled off, and real wages were up $1,400 on average last year, which means that consumers were made better off by the tariffs," he said.

"It's really just an embarrassment," said Hassett. "I can't imagine who signed off on it."

The New York Fed report concluded: "In sum, U.S. firms and consumers continue to bear the bulk of the economic burden of the high tariffs imposed in 2025."

CNBC reported that the Fed declined to comment.

Finance professor and public policy adviser Michael Busler wrote on Newsmax on Wednesday that clear trends are emerging for America based on Trump's economic decisions.

"Recent economic reports are painting a promising picture, showing a rise in new job creation across the country," Busler wrote.

He continued, "Remarkably, as inflation, once stubbornly hovering above 2.5%, drops below that threshold, it's evident that President Trump's policies are starting to bear fruit. Though it takes time for such initiatives to unfold fully, the results so far are certainly encouraging."

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