President Donald Trump's new tariffs on steel and aluminum are "no big deal," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday.
"This is not the first time we put tariffs on steel. We have tariffs on many forms of steel," Ross said on the CNBC show "Squawk on the Street."
"The reason why we've had to go this route is they don't solve the problem of overcapacity in global dumping."
On Thursday, Trump announced new tariffs on aluminum and steel, a move that roiled the stock market and sparking fears among economists of a trade war.
Ross said the tariffs will have a "broad" but "trivial" impact on prices and are "no big deal," adding, "what was announced yesterday by the president is a very broad concept."
He held up a can of Campbell's Soup to prove his point.
"In a can of Campbell Soup, there are about 2.6 pennies worth of steel. So if that goes up by 25 percent, that's about six-tenths of one cent on the price on a can of Campbell Soup," Ross argued.
"I just bought this can today at a 7-Eleven ... and it priced at a $1.99. Who in the world is going to be too bothered?"
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