Former President Donald Trump reiterated his plan to phase in a system of universal tariffs on foreign products if elected president in 2024.
“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 told Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow during an interview aired on Aug. 17.
“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 added, “I do like the 10 percent for everybody.”
On top of the universal tariff, the former president said he also liked to implement a “matching tax” on certain countries.
“We have countries that charge us 100 and 150 and 200 percent, and we charge them absolutely nothing,” President Trump.
“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.”
Tariffs
In one of the videos released in February, President Trump unveiled the idea of a “new pro-America system of universal baseline tariffs” on most foreign products.With such universal baseline tariffs, the former president said he would be able to bring jobs back to the United States.
“As tariffs on foreign producers go up, taxes on American producers will go down and go down very substantially. And that means a lot of jobs coming in,” he said in the video.
“Not only will this system end our gaping trade deficits—and they are massive right now—and bring back millions of American jobs—it will also bring trillions and trillions of dollars pouring into the U.S. Treasury from foreign countries and allow us to invest that money in American workers, American families, and American communities.”
His idea of imposing matching tariffs was first announced in June, when he announced he would work with Congress to pass what he called the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act.”
“If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff. In other words, 100 percent is 100 percent. If they charge us, we charge them—an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount,” he said in another video.
According to President Trump, the proposed legislation would power the president to impose reciprocal tariffs on any foreign country’s goods.
In the video, he explained that the legislation would benefit U.S. agricultural states and bring U.S. jobs back.
“This will be a key part of our strategy to return jobs and wealth to the United States and launch an economic boom that will lift up our middle class and eliminate our dependence on China and other countries,” he said.
The former president began hitting China with tariffs after a U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) investigation in 2018 found that the communist regime was engaging in illegal practices, including excessive government subsidies and intellectual property theft. Beijing retaliated by slappings tariffs on U.S. goods before the two sides signed a trade deal in January 2020.
Agenda47
President Trump’s other policies outlined under the “Agenda47” platform have included investigating the rising rates of autism, reevaluating the purpose and mission of NATO, calling for the death penalty for human traffickers, eradicating the drug addiction crisis in the United States, and protecting students from Marxist ideologies.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who has endorsed President Trump’s 2024 White House bid, recently reiterated his support for the former president and his policies.
“President Trump was the FIRST Republican to win the Great State of Wisconsin since Reagan in ‘84. Wisconsinites were better off with less expensive energy, food, & daily life expenses under Trump,” Mr. Donalds wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Florida congressman added, “I’m proud to support the #Agenda47 & 4 more years of a Trump administration!”
According to the latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll, President Trump led the GOP field with 52 percent of support, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finishing a distant second with 12 percent of support.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy finished third with 8 percent of support, while none of the remaining GOP presidential hopefuls picked up more than 5 percent of support, and 14 percent of the respondents said they were not sure whom they would support.
The poll, which inquired 1,665 adults, was conducted from Aug. 17–21.
