Donald Trump team is talking tax cuts again – While former president Donald Trump may be enjoying a very comfortable lead in the polls against his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, his team isn’t resting on their laurels. They are working to develop strategies and policies for their candidate to push on the campaign trail.
Among these is a set of aggressive cuts to both individual and corporate taxes, the framework of which harkens to a controversial tax bill the Trump administration championed in 2017.
According to an article by the Washington Post, which cited “half-dozen people close to the former president”, the cuts would be offset by a new 10% tariff on imports to the country – tariffs on imports being another of Donald Trump’s favorite talking points. The move is projected to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, but consumers would have to contend with higher costs related to the tariffs.
Sources for the Washington Post story say that talks are very private and preliminary at the moment, and no concrete numbers or figures have been determined.
Biden Campaign Blasts Trump Tax Idea
The Biden campaign has expectedly issued a scathing criticism of the plan, saying that the only real beneficiary of such tax cuts would be corporations and really wealthy individuals.
“Donald Trump is plotting to bring back the failed, trickle-down policies of his first term that lined the pockets of his ultra-wealthy friends and created incentives for corporations to ship American jobs overseas,” said Ammar Moussa, one of the Biden re-election campaign spokespersons.
Moussa added, “This is the story of the Trump economy — blowing up the deficit to help out his wealthy friends at the expense of hardworking Americans and their families.”
The White House itself did not issue a statement on the move, and instead once again touted what they believe to be the achievements of Bidenomics, the president’s economic plan.
“Through Bidenomics investments, President Biden is pushing every day to grow the American middle class, cut costs for families, and slash our deficits,” said Andrew Bates, a White House deputy press secretary. Bates also said that the 2017 tax law is to blame for the rise in the national deficit and the poor jobs and wages for working-class Americans.
The White House has also voiced opposition to Trump’s proposed 10% tariff on imports, saying that it would lead to inflation and higher costs for the average consumer.
“Combining a sweeping tariff tax on the middle class with more trickle-down tax welfare for rich special interests would stifle economic growth and fuel inflation,” Bates said.
Donald Trump Wants A “ring” Around America
Donald Trump describes the idea of a tariff on essentially all imports to the U.S. as a “ring around the U.S. economy”, but such a move would be a significant disruption to the global trade the U.S. is a big part of and could have even far-reaching consequences.
Sources close to the president and who have knowledge of the tariff discussions told the Washington Post that Trump’s economic team are still figuring out how to address the many issues an increase in tariffs would cause.
Outside of Trump’s circles, the criticism of the plan is louder and harsher. Peterson Institute for International Economics President Adam Posen said that it was “lunacy” to impose such a tariff, hurting the United States’ global reputation as a trading partner, and damaging countless U.S. import and export companies.
Tim Ramos has written for various publications, corporations, and organizations – covering everything from finance, politics, travel, entertainment, and sports – in Asia and the U.S. for more than 10 years.
