Trump signals more reliance on tariffs in second term

Former President Trump during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Monday brushed aside criticism of his fondness of using tariffs as a negotiating tool and signaled he would rely on them again if he is reelected. 

Trump delivered remarks at a factory in York, Pa., the first of several planned stops in battleground states this week to counter the Democratic National Convention. He repeatedly attacked Vice President Harris, likening her ideas to communism and pledging to reinstitute many of the policies he implemented in his first term.

That included tariffs on other nations, a practice that has drawn criticism from economists and some lawmakers who argue they amount to a tax on consumers.

“Kamala Harris says that a tariff is a tax on American consumers. She’s wrong. It’s a tax on a foreign consumer. It’s a tax on a foreign country,” Trump said.

“It also gives you power over that country. If they want to have wars with somebody, we can say ‘No, if you do have wars, we’re going to raise your tariffs,’” Trump added.

The Tax Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, has found the Trump administration imposed roughly $80 billion worth of new taxes on American consumers by imposing tariffs on $380 billion in goods in 2018 and 2019.

The organization noted the Biden administration has kept most of the Trump-era tariffs in place and has announced increased taxes on certain Chinese goods.

Trump on Monday signaled he would look to use tariffs against competitors and allies alike in a second term by pushing for legislation called the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act.” 

“If China or any other countries … makes us pay a 100 or 200 percent tariff or tax, we will make them pay a reciprocal tariff or tax of the exact same amount,” Trump said. “So it’s basically you hurt us, we hurt you. It’s an eye for an eye, and it’s common sense.”

Trump’s speech in York, which lasted just less than an hour, was largely focused on the economy. He painted a bleak picture of a nation that would collapse if Harris won in November, calling her a “country destroyer.”

He blamed Harris and President Biden for rising costs, and he attacked Harris for supporting “regulatory Jihad” in reference to the Biden administration’s pollution standards for power plants.

Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee in late July, last week detailed her first major economic proposals if she is to win the presidency in November. Her agenda would include a federal ban on price-gouging to address high costs, an expanded child tax credit for middle- and low-income families, and a push for increased housing supply and support for first-time homebuyers.