President Trump says, “Taxes are the biggest invented ever.” Once upon a time I said,Customs Man Tariffs are the solution to many economic problems.
He argued that imposing tariffs would protect American factories, promote manufacturing, create new jobs and bend non-cooperative governments to his will. Since his inauguration, Trump has imposed tariffs since his inauguration, then again tariffs, and then again.
Meanwhile, however, Trump began to acknowledge that tariffs could cause financial discomfort for Americans. The possibility came in harsh words in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” starting Saturday when Trump said he “don’t really care” about the prospect of car prices rising.
The president repeated his sentiment twice when asked about the 25% tariffs on imported cars and auto parts that he had promised to come into effect Thursday. He told NBC News host Kristen Welker that tariffs will be permanent and encourage car companies and their suppliers to move to the US.
In one exchange, Welker asked Trump if he was interested in the impact of tariffs on car prices. Experts say it could go up by thousands of dollars. “No, I couldn’t care that much,” he said.
After the interview, the president’s aide told NBC that Trump was referring to rising foreign car prices.
The White House has tried to highlight foreign-made vehicles, but tariffs will affect American companies such as Ford Motor and General Motors, which build many vehicles in Canada and Mexico. Almost half of the vehicles sold in the US are imported. S&P Global Mobility Dataand almost 60% of the automobile parts of the car were assembled domestically.
Research on Yale Budget Laba nonpartisan research center predicts tariffs will increase vehicle prices by an average of 13.5%. This is an additional $6,400 for the average new 2024 car price.
On Sunday, Sean Fein, chairman of the United Auto Workers Union, said tariffs were in fact “motivation” for automakers to bring jobs to the United States. But he said that by “facing the people” of CBS, they weren’t the “final solution” to help American auto workers. Fine said if work is being taken back to the US, they will need to “be paid for a good union job setting the standard.”
Trump’s senior trade adviser, Peter Navarro, defended tariffs and said he would raise about $100 billion. He also told Americans not to worry about the impact of tariffs.
Instead, he said on Sunday he should “trust Trump.”
