Samers warned Trump about tariffs and said should take former Argentine populist president Pern as a warning.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers warned that President Trump's policies could lead the United States down a path similar to postwar Argentina. Argentina was once a relatively advanced developed country, but later fell into economic decline. The late Argentine President Juan Pern founded a populist party in 1946, and at that time some observers compared Argentina to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, believing that it was a mature economy with abundant natural resources. Peronism promoted import substitution and high tariffs, attempting to stimulate Argentina's domestic industry. According to an assessment published by the think tank OMFIF in 2023, trade protectionism was a "key policy" that led to the economic decline of Argentina.