Trump Claims Tariffs Are ‘Working Big Time,’ But Can’t Back Up His Claims
President Donald Trump fired off a pair of tweets Sunday, claiming the tariffs imposed by his administration are “working big time,” The Hill reports.
Any country that doesn’t agree to “make or build” its products in the United States will be taxed, the POTUS vowed, proclaiming that his tariffs will inevitably translate into wealth and jobs for the American people, while at the same time reducing debt.
However, Trump cannot back up his claims, The Hill has observed. According to the outlet, there is no indication that Trump tariffs will provide a long-term benefit for the United States. On the contrary, the national debt has continued to rise under Trump, and his tariffs have resulted in retaliatory measures from other countries.
Furthermore, according to The Hill, the Department of Agriculture has been forced to offer $12 billion in aid to American farmers, whose livelihood has been negatively impacted by Donald Trump’s tariffs. According to CNBC, economists argue that the $12 billion emergency aid plan is a short-term bailout for farmers at best, and won’t have a long-lasting effect, or introduce long-term stablity.
CNBC further argued that the emergency aid package is a calculated political maneuver by the Republican Party, which is struggling to deliver in the upcoming midterm elections. Considering much of Trump’s base is located in states that have been heavily impacted by retaliatory tariffs from China and other countries, the GOP’s $12 billion emergency aid plan’s end goal is maintaining stability until November midterms.
Tariffs are working big time. Every country on earth wants to take wealth out of the U.S., always to our detriment. I say, as they come,Tax them. If they don’t want to be taxed, let them make or build the product in the U.S. In either event, it means jobs and great wealth…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018
..Because of Tariffs we will be able to start paying down large amounts of the $21 Trillion in debt that has been accumulated, much by the Obama Administration, while at the same time reducing taxes for our people. At minimum, we will make much better Trade Deals for our country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018
Trump claims tariffs are "working big time" despite foreign retaliations and complaints from US companies https://t.co/lkNy6j5zXD pic.twitter.com/0BSg3No9Nh
— The Hill (@thehill) August 5, 2018
Some economists have previously described Trump tariffs as a “wrong move on a valid issue.”
“Any good strategy has to include getting other countries on your side. If it’s the United States versus China, we’re similar-sized economies. If it’s the United States and the world versus China, that’s not something China can win.”
Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government who headed the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama told the New York Times, while Austan Goolsbee, an economist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, called Trump tariffs a “terrible mistake,” stating the following.
“This was a coalition of the vast majority of the economies of Asia outside of China, agreeing to principles exactly of the form that we’re now saying that we want. We would be in a lot better situation if we had all of those people on our side.”
Mainly critical of Trump’s tariffs against ally countries like Canada, and EU member states, Furman and Goolsbee have expressed concern over retaliatory tariffs, prompted by Trump’s fiscal measures, and their effects on the American economy.
For instance, as the Inquisitr reported in June, the European Union issued an alarming warning, claiming that Trump’s tariffs on Europe-assembeled cars could eventually lead to the loss of 180,000 U.S. jobs.
