Conservative tax policy expert Mattie Duppler warned against the use of tariffs in an interview on Wednesday after President Trump threatened to raise them on China.
“The problem with tariffs is they are a blunt instrument,” Duppler, a senior fellow at the National Taxpayers Union, told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“They do not necessarily accomplish specific political gains, especially in this environment, where we’ve seen the president emerge claiming victory, and the Chinese government saying another thing entirely,” she continued.
Trump has touted a ceasefire he said had been reached in the U.S. trade war with China during a meeting with President Xi Jinping last week in Argentina. However, the details of the agreement remain unclear.
The president warned China in a tweet on Tuesday that he could raise tariffs if Beijing did not agree to alter its trade practices.
“President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will. But if not remember, I am a Tariff Man,” Trump said in a series of tweets.
“When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so,” he continued. “It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN.”
“The question that markets, politicians, any observer [are] asking is ‘what tool does the United States have in its handbag in order to make China actually make concessions on some of these pervasive problems, which the administration has actually been pretty clear about what they want to see,” Duppler said. “They want to see changes in forced tech transfers, joint ventures, all of the IP theft that happens in China, which are actually problems that need to be confronted.”
— Julia Manchester
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