Trump is betting the economy on his tariff theory : Consider This from NPR
World economies are jittery ahead of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” when he is set to unleash tariffs against multiple countries.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
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Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
World economies are jittery ahead of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” when he is set to unleash tariffs against multiple countries.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
In President Donald Trump’s telling, tariffs are the political equivalent of duct tape: you can use them to fix anything.
For example, they’re a negotiating tool — he used the threat of tariffs to pressure Canada and Mexico to implement border policies he liked. He also sees tariffs as a revenue source that might help offset his proposed $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and as a shield to protect American manufacturing jobs from overseas competition.
With all of these potentially conflicting aims, and with another major round of tariffs expected to be announced on Wednesday, what is the strategy behind them?
Rana Foroohar, a Financial Times columnist and the author of Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World, says they’re an “experiment” that could lead to a big change in the way the global economy works.
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This episode was produced by Matthew Cloutier and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Connor Donevan and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
