CNN —
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Thursday that a “grossly misguided” proposal for blanket tariffs would accelerate inflation and hurt U.S. businesses, explicitly criticizing former President Donald Trump’s economic policies.
The warning, delivered during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, came as economic issues remain top of mind for voters with less than three weeks until the election. President Trump has made calling for high tariffs a key part of his policy agenda, but Vice President Kamala Harris has warned that his tariff plans would raise prices for American households, calling it ” It’s called the Trump tax.
Yellen, who typically refrains from intervening in politics, did not mention President Trump by name in her speech, but she spoke out against blanket tariffs and a “go-it-alone” strategy on the world stage.
“The insistence that we cut off the United States by imposing similarly high tariffs on our friends and competitors, or by treating even our closest allies as trading partners, is deeply misguided,” Yellen said. “Significant, untargeted tariffs would raise prices for American households and make our businesses less competitive.”
“And if we act alone, we cannot even hope to advance our economic and security interests, such as opposing Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine,” she said. “But the challenges we face today, from supply chain disruptions to climate change and global pandemic preparedness to China’s industrial overcapacity, simply mean that old strategies cannot continue. It also means.
Still, in a question-and-answer session following her remarks, Yellen defended the Biden administration’s decision not to eliminate Trump-era tariffs on China, telling the host: Although the practice was highlighted in Section 301 cases that dealt with unfair competition issues, China did not actually address any of those issues. ”
“Until China makes a meaningful attempt to address its 301 unfair trade practices, President Biden felt he should not reward China with lower tariffs,” he added.
During his time in office, President Trump imposed significant tariffs on approximately $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. The Biden administration has since kept those tariffs in place, and in some cases expanded them.
If elected, President Trump said he would impose tariffs of up to 20% on all foreign imports into the United States and an additional 60% or more on all Chinese imports. He also said he would impose “100% tariffs” on countries that try to stop using the US dollar.
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariffs,” President Trump said Tuesday at the Economic Club of Chicago.
When pressed by Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait about the fallout, President Trump said it was “simple math” that tariffs would pass on higher costs to American consumers. He defended the call for action.
“Number one, we’re going to protect this country and the new companies that are coming into this country because we’re going to have thousands of companies coming into this country,” Trump said, adding that tariffs “will have a positive effect. “Instead, it has a positive effect.” Negative economic impact.
Yellen also more directly criticized Republicans’ promise to extend Trump-era tax cuts during the Q&A.
“I believe that it is important for our country to have responsible fiscal policy and be on a sustainable fiscal path, and I believe that some of the proposals that have come from the Republican side are subject to the Hatch Act.” “I would like to be careful not to comment on electoral politics,” she admitted. “But, for example, the (Congressional Budget Office) has said that (extending the tax cuts) will result in an additional $5 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years, and unless that’s compensated for in some way, that’s something we won’t solve.” I believe it should be done.” We just can’t afford it.” ”
This headline and story have been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Donald Judd, Jordan Walinsky and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
