LINCOLNVILLE, Maine — Former President Donald Trump calls himself a “tariff man” and says taxes on imported goods are “the greatest thing ever invented,” so Kamala No wonder Vice President Harris attacked the Republican candidate’s economic policy centerpiece: Bad policy.
But even more surprising, a House Democrat just introduced a bill that would codify President Trump’s 10% flat tariff, revealing how long-dormant trade policy is dividing the two parties. That’s true.
Tariffs can trace their roots to ancient Athens and other historic civilizations, and were the federal government’s main source of revenue until 1914, when they were replaced by income taxes. However, these largely fell out of favor in the second half of the 20th century, when the United States led the global free trade revolution.
The removal of trade barriers lowered the cost of consumer goods and led to growth in many economies around the world. But critics argue that unfettered free trade would destroy U.S. manufacturing and the associated high-wage, unionized jobs because domestic factories were unable to compete with falling manufacturing costs overseas. He claims that he did so.
President Trump said this week: “After 75 years, other countries will finally pay us back for everything we’ve done for the world. The tariffs will be significant.”
Rep. Jared Golden, a maverick moderate Democrat from Maine who faces a tough re-election bid this year, introduced the bill Wednesday aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and limiting U.S. dependence on foreign products. did.
“What the president said is absolutely true, but Mr. Trump is the first person in my life to lead with tariffs, but he’s not the first person to think about it,” Golden said in an interview. He spoke at “Early on, our founding fathers understood that we should avoid becoming a consumer of foreign products because that creates dependence.”
Harris and her campaign blasted President Trump’s proposed flat tariffs, saying they would raise prices for consumers already suffering record high costs due to inflation.
“It would be a sales tax on the American people,” she said in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday. “He doesn’t just throw around the idea of just imposing tariffs across the board. That’s part of the problem with Donald Trump… He’s not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues. Not.”
President Trump’s tariff plans have critics on his side, too.
Libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced a bill this month that would prohibit the president from raising tariffs without Congressional approval. This is a clear criticism of President Trump, who has said he would enact tariff policy through executive action. Alone. (Trump was able to raise tariffs without Congressional approval during his first term.)
Despite Harris and other attacks on Trump’s tariffs, the Biden-Harris administration has maintained some of the tariffs Trump imposed on Chinese steel and aluminum during his first term, as well as on electric vehicles and semiconductors. The decision was made to raise tariffs in strategic areas such as
Harris did not mention tariffs when asked about them in an interview on MSNBC.
Still, Biden and Harris have consistently criticized across-the-board tariffs as an “indiscriminate” measure that risks “undermining alliances,” and that targeted sanctions have the opposite effect of broad-based sanctions. It claims there is no inflation risk.
Golden, like some other tariff-supporting lawmakers, has argued that flat tariffs are good for American workers and national security, regardless of whether President Trump supports the idea. There is.
Although President Trump disagrees, Golden acknowledged that tariffs will drive up the price of imported goods, but since imports can no longer compete on price alone, higher costs will make domestically produced goods more competitive. , states that there will be upward pressure on quality.
“After World War II, it made sense to pursue globalization because we were one of the last surviving industrialized economies,” Golden said. “That model no longer applies today.”
Economists are generally far more negative about tariffs. Most say data shows that trade liberalization leads to greater economic growth, and that President Trump’s blanket tariffs could raise inflation and kill jobs.
Politically, however, tariffs appear to be quite popular, with a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showing 56% of Americans support the idea, and even in pro-Trump districts like Goldens. That number could be even higher, and like many other districts, many factories have closed over the past 40 years.
