AlterNet: 'Dangerous territory': Experts warn Trump's 'sweeping tariffs' could destabilize 'dicey' US economy

[Dennis Donovan]

AlterNet - 'Dangerous territory': Experts warn Trump’s 'sweeping tariffs' could destabilize 'dicey' US economy



Some of President-elect Donald Trump's defenders have predicted that he will back down from his promise to impose major tariffs on Canada and Mexico after he returns to the White House in 2025.

But so far, Trump is showing no signs of backing down. And he had said that from Day One, he will impose 25 percent across-the-board tariffs on all products coming into the United States from those countries as well on products from Mainland Chiona.

During a Tuesday, December 24 appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box," two economists — Elizabeth Pancotti, director of the Roosevelt Institute, and Veronique de Rugy (a senior research fellow for the Mercatus Center) — were confident that Trump would follow through with the "sweeping tariffs" he has promised. And Pancotti warned that they could be "inflationary."

Pancotti said, "I think we have an issue where Trump is signaling to the market, to CEOs, to other countries he's going to do the sweeping tariffs he campaigned on. And to some extent, they're not believing him — and even some senior advisers are saying: no, no, it won't be what you think it is."

The Roosevelt Institute senior director predicted, however, "there will be some pretty sweeping tariffs" during the "first 100 days" of Trump's second presidency "rather than the targeted and strategic tariffs" that the U.S. has had under President Joe Biden.

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Dec 24, 2024

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