MW Hassett says New York Fed staff should be disciplined over study finding Americans paid for Trump's tariffs

By Robert Schroeder

Trump economist's criticism comes ahead of possible Supreme Court ruling this week

A 40-foot-long banner designed to look like a purchase receipt was displayed in Los Angeles in December by the progressive group MoveOn to protest President Donald Trump's tariffs on imports.

White House economist Kevin Hassett blasted a paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on who is bearing the costs of tariffs, as the Trump administration anticipates a Supreme Court decision on the president's levies.

Appearing on CNBC, Hassett said the authors of the paper "should presumably be disciplined" and called the analysis "an embarrassment."

"It's, I think, the worst paper I've ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve system," said Hassett, who is the director of the National Economic Council.

The study is titled "Who is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs?" and concludes that nearly 90% of the tariffs' economic burden has fallen on American companies and consumers. It notes that its findings are consistent with two other studies.

Hassett's comments came as the White House, financial markets SPX and companies are awaiting the outcome of a Supreme Court case on President Donald Trump's tariff policies. The high court's current break ends on Friday, and there is a chance the tariff decision could come then.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is considering Trump's tariff policies after lower courts last year found that he exceeded his authority in using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to justify his many country-specific levies. Opponents have emphasized that the law doesn't explicitly mention tariffs in its text and that no president has ever used the IEEPA to impose tariffs.

Trump has defended his IEEPA tariffs repeatedly and claimed that the U.S. economy would be hurt significantly if the Supreme Court were to strike them down. Last week, the president said he would "figure something out" if the justices rule against him.

Now read: Trump says he'll 'figure something out' if tariffs are struck down

Hassett took issue with the conclusion of the paper by arguing consumers have been made better off by Trump's tariffs through onshoring and higher wages.

His comments about the New York Fed researchers needing to be "disciplined," meanwhile, drew flak from respected economists including Claudia Sahm. She called them "deeply disturbing" in a post on X.

The New York Fed declined to comment.

Victor Reklaitis contributed.

-Robert Schroeder

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February 18, 2026 11:54 ET (16:54 GMT)

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