Trump’s Tariff Proposal Would Make Life More Expensive For All Americans

Policy issues haven’t taken center stage in the 2024 presidential race. Instead, personalities, frailties, foibles, and falsehoods seem to be the top items on offer from the major campaigns.

But occasionally, a bit of policy does rise above the mire, and is worth discussing. The National Taxpayers Union takes note of former President Donald Trump’s idea to impose an across-the-board 10 percent tariff on all imported goods…with a special 60 percent tariff on goods imported from China.

It’s rare to see so much protectionism on such prominent display. But as NTU rightly notes, it’s even rarer to see a Republican propose what is effectively a gigantic tax increase for all Americans:

Based on 2022 imports, this would represent an ongoing tax increase of $495.7 billion per year, the equivalent of $3,942 for every American household.

But wait, partisans will say, it’s China and those other countries who pay the tariffs. What’s your problem with that?

The problem is that nations don’t pay tariffs. End consumers do through higher prices:

Multiple studies have shown that the burden of import-tax increases like those proposed by President Trump falls on American taxpayers, consumers, and businesses. Politicians who claim that import taxes are paid by other countries appear to be either ignorant of the facts or intentionally deceptive.

As the U.S. International Trade Commission’s comprehensive analysis of recent import-tax increases concluded: “The report finds that on average from 2018 to 2021, U.S. importers bore nearly the full cost of these tariffs because import prices increased at the same rate as the tariffs.”

But ignorance of who pays the bills is very on-brand for politicians, regardless of party. 

Though, to be fair, that a Republican would attempt to impose tariffs on friends and foes alike is also very much in keeping with the GOP’s historically disastrous experience with tariffs.

Lest we forget, the men who sponsored one of the more aggressively destructive tariffs in U.S. history – Sen. Reed Smoot of Utah and Rep. Willis Hawley of Oregon were both Republicans.

Their Smoot-Hawley tariff triggered a global trade war and provided a tailwind to the Great Depression.

It appears our would-be leaders have learned nothing from history at all. Except how to make the same mistakes over and again.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.