Trump leads with economic policy, tariff push in debate

Former President Trump doubled down on his pledge to increase tariffs on imported goods as he and Vice President Harris began Tuesday’s presidential debate by focusing on economic policy.

“We’re doing tariffs on other countries,” Trump said. “I took in billions and billions of dollars … from China.”

Trump mentioned how the Biden administration left many of the tariffs he initially imposed in place, saying “they never took the tariff off.”

Many policy shops in Washington have warned against the economic consequences of proposing a general tariff on imported goods, arguing they will amount to a tax hike on consumers.

Trump has countered such arguments by saying that additional tariffs will prioritize American workers and protect American jobs, and he also mentioned unions early in the debate. Trump’s signature 2017 tax law canceled the tax-deductible status of union dues.

Other trade experts have sounded a more measured tone on increased tariffs.

“Contrary to the branding campaign by importers and economists, tariffs are not, um, Satan’s spawn, or even weird,” Lori Wallach, a trade policy expert and director of Rethink Trade, wrote in a Tuesday analysis. 

“Tariffs are a bipartisan tool used for decades here and by many nations to develop industries vital to economic and national security,” she wrote.