Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended President Donald Trump’s tariffs in a Tuesday morning interview with CNBC, arguing that they will make trade “fair” and asserting that the United States has been “ripped off” by other countries for too long.

Trump’s tariffs—25% on all Canadian and Mexican imports and 20% on Chinese goods—went into effect Tuesday, triggering a trade war as all three nations vowed to retaliate with reciprocal tariffs on U.S. exports.

When asked by CNBC host Joe Kernan about the potential for rising prices in the U.S., Lutnick pushed back, questioning why vehicles sold in America are being manufactured in Canada and Mexico in the first place.

The Commerce Secretary maintained that tariffs would drive job creation by incentivizing car manufacturers to shift production back to the United States. However, he acknowledged Kernan’s point that such a transition would likely take more than just a few months.

“I agree with you. They can’t do it in three months,” Lutnick said. “But they can do it in six months, and you’re going to see jobs created in America, cars [made] in America. You build it here, you don’t pay any tariff.”

Honda plans to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in Indiana to avoid Trump’s tariffs rather than in Mexico.

According to Lutnick, the Trump administration will focus on “renegotiating” a deal with its trading partners and attempt to “make the world fair and reciprocal.”

“You guys have no idea how bad the deals are that America suffers with,” he continued. “Everybody charges … dairy is 250% in Canada. You guys don’t think about that stuff, but it’s unbelievable the way we get ripped off around the world. And Donald Trump’s going to level-set it, make it reciprocal, and make it fair.”

“You can’t kill Americans and get away with it,” Lutnick added, seemingly referring to Trump’s strategy to use tariffs to put pressure on China, Canada, and Mexico to prevent drug trafficking into the United States.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, President Donald Trump declared that there was “no room left for Mexico or for Canada” to negotiate a deal before the tariffs took effect overnight.

According to reports, Trump remains dissatisfied with how Canada and Mexico have handled drug trafficking, despite both nations pledging last month to strengthen border security measures with the United States, the Daily Wire reported.

“And just so you understand, vast amounts of fentanyl have poured into our country from Mexico, and as you know, also from China, where it goes to Mexico and goes to Canada,” Trump said.

During his CNBC interview, Lutnick was emphatic that “tariffs do not create inflation.”

“Printing money creates inflation. You have a balanced budget, there can’t be inflation,” he added, though he did acknowledge that tariffs may raise prices for some products.

“China has the highest tariffs in the world. Everything gets tariffed in China, and they don’t have inflation, in fact they have deflation,” Lutnick said. “India, the second-highest tariffs in the world, they don’t have inflation. So this concept is just people whining and complaining and not being truthful.”