New York Times: Harris and Trump Embrace Tariffs, Though Their Approaches Differ

I’m a Republican.

I won’t stand idly by while the GOP abandons Reagan Conservatism for “Trumpism”

I’m voting for Kamala Harris.#Harris2024 pic.twitter.com/sGgxXegrLe

— Kyle Sweetser (@sweetser_kyle) August 26, 2024

J.D. Vance: “Kamala’s advisers are considering adopting all of Donald Trump’s policies… I’ve heard that for her debate in a few weeks, she’s going to put on a navy suit, a long red tie and adopt the slogan Make America Great Again.”

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— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 27, 2024

I could have easily included this in The Case for Trump series.

In hindsight, Donald Trump succeeded in moving the Overton Window on both trade policy and industrial policy, especially with regards to China. Trump killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and imposed tariffs on imports from China and the European Union. He killed the Washington consensus.

New York Times:

“When Donald J. Trump ran for president in 2016, there was not much love for tariffs in Washington. Many Republicans and Democrats believed that putting levies on imports created economic inefficiencies and that freer trade was the best recipe for growth.

That view has largely fallen out of fashion in 2024. While Mr. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, differ greatly in their campaign proposals, both of their parties are increasingly embracing tariffs as an essential tool in protecting American manufacturers from Chinese and other global competitors.

It has been a sharp reversal from previous decades, when most politicians fought to lower tariffs rather than raise them. But the loss of American manufacturing jobs as a result of globalization and China’s focus on churning out cheap exports have created a bipartisan backlash against more open trade. Given that Mr. Trump’s 2016 win capitalized on such sentiments, Democrats have been striving to avoid losing voters opposed to free trade.

“On economic policy and trade issues, you have both major parties moving in the same direction,” said Nick Iacovella, a senior vice president at the Coalition for a Prosperous America, which advocates tariffs and domestic investments in industry. …”

There is a lot of misplaced activist fury at Trump which should be channeled against the Republican Congress. As with so many issues, tariffs are a great example of this. In his first term, Trump supported both tariffs on China and withdrawing troops from Syria. Congressional Republicans were against both policies and Trump needed their support in both of his impeachment trials. Instead of trying to elect a better Congress, which had to approve USMCA which replaced NAFTA, all the activist energy and rage was directed against Trump as if he somehow had total power and had failed to use it.

New York Times:

“Former President Donald J. Trump blames the global trading system for inflicting a long list of ills on the American economy including lost jobs, closed foreign markets and an overvalued dollar.

The remedy, he insists, is simple: tariffs. Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has repeatedly said he would raise tariffs if elected. China, a geopolitical and economic rival, would face an additional 50 or 60 percent tariff on its exports to the United States. He has also floated the idea of a 10 percent surcharge on exports from the rest of the world. …”

Trump is promising to impose tariffs again on Chinese imports in his second term. He even forced Biden to keep some of his tariffs. Now Kamala Harris is saying she also supports some tariffs and no taxes on tips and funding the border wall and a $6,000 child tax credit.