(BrightPress.org) – Republican front-runner for the presidential primary Donald Trump promised the citizens of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire that he would use his presidential powers to reintroduce tariffs on all foreign-made goods to protect American jobs.
He also wants Congress to pass the Reciprocal Trade Act from Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) which would impose reciprocal tariffs, that is equal taxes on any nation’s goods that puts taxes on our exports in their country.
He said if any country, like China for example, puts a 200% tariff on our goods then their goods will get the exact same tariffs when we import them here in the US. He said that as we increase the taxes on their goods, taxes paid by American citizens will go down “dramatically.”
Trump previously suggested a 10% tariff across the board on all foreign imports in August, but the Democrats and President Joe Biden lambasted that plan.
The Trump campaign is unique in that it is calling for taxes on imports. The position is generally popular with blue-collar American workers and conservatives whereas establishment Republicans tend to oppose the policy in favor of ”free trade.”
As recently as 2019, establishment Republicans in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce fought against introducing the Reciprocal Trade Act even though polls at the time demonstrated widespread support from the conservative base.
Free trade has rapidly been losing popularity in favor of more protective sentiments. A July poll from the New York Times and Siena College showed that 7 of 10 people likely to vote in the GOP primary believe that free trade is harming the American economy by costing us jobs. If products can be produced cheaply abroad, there’s little incentive to produce them in the U.S.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer put out a memo asking Republicans to change our trade policy to help stimulate American jobs and wages. The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) issued a report that claimed a 15% tariff on imports across the board with a 35% tariff on vital products in supply chains would trigger the generation of roughly 10 million jobs and earn $600 billion in revenue for the government.
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