Trump Defends Tariff Plan After Criticism

Former President Donald Trump tosses caps to the crowd at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 12, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Former president Donald Trump defended his track record with tariffs and his proposal of a “universal” tariff plan should he win the election in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal a week after its editorial board criticized his tariff proposal.

“Even after being proven spectacularly and totally wrong in all their past predictions regarding my historically successful trade policies, the die-hard globalists at the editorial board still have not learned their lesson,” he wrote in a piece published Aug. 30. “As I demonstrated repeatedly, the tariff is also an important tool of U.S. national security and diplomacy. I am proud to be the only candidate for president who believes in true economic nationalism.”

Universal Tariff

On Aug. 17, President Trump gave an interview with former aide Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, where the two touched on some of the GOP frontrunner’s Agenda 47 policy proposals from his campaign. The 45th president criticized President Joe Biden’s economic policies and lamented the decline of the dollar, giving a preview of what he would do to reverse these effects if elected into office.

“I think we should have a ring around the collar, as they say. I think when companies come in and they dump their products in the United States, they should pay, automatically, let’s say, a 10 percent tax,” President Trump said in the interview.

“That money would be used to pay off debt. It’s a massive amount of money even at 10 percent,” the former president continued. “It’s not gonna stop business because it’s not that much, but it’s enough that we would really make a lot of money.”

He pointed out that other countries have put high taxes on American goods, while the United States does not do the same, and suggested a universal tariff of “10 percent for everybody.”

“We have countries that charge us 100 and 150 and 200 percent, and we charge them absolutely nothing,” he said.

“If they charge us, we charge them. Very simple,” he added. “Now two things will happen—one of two things: either they‘ll wipe out the tax and so will we, or we’ll take in a lot of money, and that’s OK, too. But eventually, what they’ll do is they’ll stop doing it.”

Editorial

Media criticism followed, with outlets like The Washington Post and WSJ claiming the tariff plan was one that would lead to a “trade war.”

“This is worth taking literally and seriously because Mr. Trump meant what he said about tariffs when he ran for President in 2016,” the WSJ editorial board wrote. “He imposed taxes on imports ranging from steel and aluminum to solar panels and washing machines, affecting imports worth hundreds of billions of dollars when the border taxes were implemented.”

“Protectionists pitch tariffs as a tax on other countries, but American consumers pay the price,” the board continued, citing a Tax Foundation report that estimated the cost to Americans to be some $80 billion and 166,000 full time jobs. They point out that the trade deficit rose during the course of President Trump’s time in office, and continued to do so under President Biden, and hence a universal tariff would do little to curb the trade deficit and improve the economy.

President Trump wrote a brief response that was published in the same publication about a week later, pushing back against their claims.

“Price increases for consumers were virtually nonexistent and there was effectively no inflation when I was president. The trade deficit with China was down year-over-year for five straight quarters before Covid hit in 2020,” he wrote. He contrasted this with the growing trade deficit under President Biden, which has hit “record highs.”

President Joe Biden speaks in Washington on Aug. 30, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The White House rejected the universal 10 percent tariff plan in a statement a week after the interview.

“President Biden strongly opposes plans to hurt hardworking families with higher prices and higher inflation—as even economists who served in the Trump White House warn such an agenda would,” said Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates in an Aug. 23 statement.

When it comes to China, however, both administrations have maintained high tariffs on incoming products.

President Trump in the editorial had called the trade deficits “losses” and a “transfer [of] permanent ownership of American companies, intellectual property, real estate, and other assets to foreign nations.”

“Foreigners now own $16.75 trillion more of our economy than we own of theirs. Our country is being plundered,” he wrote, asserting again that the best way to stop the loss is to implement tariffs across the board, which would also serve to pay off some of the nation’s ballooning debt.