In a private meeting last Wednesday, former President Donald Trump met with several advisers to discuss a policy to impose tariffs on nearly every country that wishes to export to the U.S., according to The Washington Post.
The meeting included former White House officials Larry Kudlow and Brooke Rollins, as well as economist Stephen Moore and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and was to discuss the former president’s new trade-focused economic plan as part of his 2024 campaign for president, according to the Post. The plan includes a “universal baseline tariff” that would be imposed on all countries unless granted special permission, which Trump has previously said could be around 10%. (RELATED: Bakari Sellers Says ‘No One’ Will Watch Tucker’s Interview With Trump On Twitter)
“I think we should have a ring around the collar” of the U.S. economy, Trump said to Kudlow on Fox Business, according to the Post. “When companies come in and they dump their products in the United States, they should pay, automatically, let’s say a 10% tax… I do like the 10% for everybody.”
President Trump: “Tariffs give tremendous power over countries.” pic.twitter.com/c8i2EOf8Sp
— Dillon Fillion (@DillonFillionIA) August 18, 2023
The former president announced in February an outline of his trade-focused plan that is aimed at ending U.S. dependence on China. The plan would institute a wide range of tariffs on many countries, with the proceeds of the tariffs going toward alleviating government-imposed costs for domestic industry, like taxes, in an attempt to lower the trade deficit, boost domestic production and create new jobs.
The U.S. added 187,000 jobs in July, less than the 200,000 expected, with the number of jobs added for the months of June and May being revised down by a collective 49,000 jobs.
The current average tariff imposed by the U.S. is just above 3%, according to the Post.
“A tariff of that scope and size would impose a massive tax on the folks who it intends to help,” Paul Winfree, Trump’s former deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, told the Post. “It would get passed along through higher prices at a time when the Federal Reserve has had difficulty limiting inflation.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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