Former President Donald Trump proclaimed Monday: “I’m a big supporter of tariffs” and suggested he would likely reinstate tariffs on foreign goods if he wins election to a second term.
In a CNBC interview, Trump pointed to both economic and political benefits from selectively importing foreign goods into the United States
“I fully believe in them economically when other countries are taking advantage of you,” the presumptive Republican nominee said during a “Squawk Box” interview, referring to the tariffs. “Beyond the economy, it gives you power in dealing with other countries.”
The comments come as Trump is in a tight race with President Joe Biden in the polls. With his recent victories in the Republican primaries and the elimination of all his opponents, Trump is expected to become the party’s nominee in a race in which the economy will play a major role.
During his 2017-21 term, Trump imposed various tariffs against China, Mexico, the European Union and other countries. In particular, he imposed 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
In the case of China, many of the tariffs remained in effect under the Biden administration.
“China took advantage of us in steel. “They destroyed our entire steel industry, which has never been doing well for the last 25 years… because it was eaten up by foreign competition,” Trump said. “I imposed a 50 percent tax on incoming steel from China. And everyone in the steel industry started crying when they saw me. They hugged me.”
Trump specifically called on the Chinese automobile industry to carry out future attacks.
“China is our boss at the moment. You are the head of the United States, almost as if we were a subsidiary of China,” he said.
According to MarkLines, China produced about 30 million vehicles in 2023, recording a year-on-year increase of about 50% in January. A group of Democratic senators from auto-producing states recently called on Biden to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles imported into the United States
Trump said he would impose tariffs to encourage China to build more of its cars in the United States
“The whole issue of tariffs is so simple. First of all, it’s great for us economically and it brings our companies back because if you put tariffs on China, they’re going to… build their car factories here and they’re going to keep our people employed,” he said. “We don’t want to get cars from China. We want to get Chinese-made cars in the United States by using our workers.”
Critics accuse tariffs of being counterproductive because they make imported goods more expensive. However, inflation was subdued during Trump’s term, with the consumer price index rising less than 8% overall over the four-year period, compared to about 18% under Biden.
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2024-03-11 14:11:01
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