According to recent polls, Vox reports former President Donald Trump has "an 11- to 20-point edge over" President Joe Biden "on which candidate would better handle the economy."
MSNBC newsletter editor Ryan Teague Beckwith argues in a Monday, March 11 op-ed that Trump could have an advantage over Biden on "the argument about high prices," but the MAGA hopeful plans to implement a "risky" policy proposal "that would, if anything, make inflation worse."
Emphasizing that "it’s almost hard to wrap your head around how massive Trump’s proposal is," as it would "affect literally every corner of the economy," Beckwith notes, "For months, Trump has called for imposing a 10% across-the-board tariff on all imported goods," which "would be far broader in scope than the strategy of his previous term."
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Beckwith points to a Monday discussion the former president had with CNBC, noting Trump "repeated his love of tariffs."
Speaking with SquawkBox, the MAGA hopeful emphasized, "I’m a big believer in tariffs," suggesting that they "give you power in dealing with other countries."
CNBC reports, "Trump cited both economic and political benefits from targeting foreign goods entering the U.S.," reiterating the fact that he "fully" advocates for "them economically when you’re being taken advantage of by other countries."
Beckwith notes, "Economists warn that broad-based tariffs would likely set off a trade war as countries hurt by the new Trump policy retaliate with their own tariffs, hurting U.S. manufacturers that rely on exports as well. Indeed, that’s exactly what happened in Trump’s first term, as China's retaliatory tariffs hurt U.S. agricultural exports and disrupted U.S. manufacturing supply chains."
Additionally, CNBC adds, "Critics charge that tariffs are counterproductive because they make imported goods more expensive."
Looking ahead to a potential second Trump term, Beckwith emphasizes, "Voters should expect that he will reimpose them if elected, especially since Congress has largely ceded the handling of tariffs to the White House in recent decades."
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Beckwith's full op-ed is available at this link.