Flurry of huge trade deals bury Trump tariff doubters

The Washington Times cited CEI’s expert on tariffs

Mr. Trump says his immediate predecessors didn’t understand the power of tariffs for creating revenue and leverage in foreign negotiations. He says the levies will close trade deficits, in which countries sell plenty of goods to Americans but don’t buy nearly as much from U.S. producers.

“The president just likes tariffs. That’s it. It’s a gut thing. He’s been consistent about it for 40 years. He likes tariffs, and all the arguments he and his team are making are after-the-fact rationalizations,” said Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “That means the road ahead will mean more of what we’ve seen so far. President Trump will propose tariffs, withdraw some of them, go through with some of them, make deals with some countries, break some of those deals and honor others, and renegotiate them for as long as he is in office.”

Mr. Trump says his full-court pressure is paying off. Recent deals will help the U.S. tap into British and Vietnamese markets, for instance, while a deal with Indonesia will help the U.S. procure copper.

The Japan and EU pacts, when combined, are supposed to spur over $1 trillion in foreign investments in U.S. projects.

Read more at The Washington Times