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Can Trump's tariff plan boost the US economy?
President-elect Donald Trump has made no secret of his love of tariffs, vowing steep import taxes on China, Mexico, Canada, and almost every product that crosses the US border on his first day in office. Will they boost US jobs and manufacturing, as Trump promises, or lead to rising inflation, as many economists warn? On GZERO World, Oren Cass, founder and chief economist at conservative think tank American Compass, joins Ian Bremmer for an in-depth discussion about Trump’s tariff plan and the future of US-China trade policy. Cass believes that tariffs are a way to level the playing field with China, which he says “flouts international rules and any concept of a free market.” He says tariffs can help correct global trade imbalances and doesn’t believe they’ll lead to a dramatic spike in consumer prices.
“When you raise money through a tariff, you don’t set that money on fire. It’s also tax revenue,” Cass explains, “We have a $2 trillion deficit. If I told you that there was some other tax that was going to help reduce the deficit, you’d probably say that would help reign inflation in.”
Watch full episode: The case for Trump's tariffs
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
The case for Trump's tariffs
What will President-Elect Donald Trump’s election win mean for the US economy? After years of inflation and stagnating wage growth, millions of voters elected Trump off the back of his promise to usher in a “golden age of America.” Trump has vowed to raise tariffs, slash business regulation, and deport millions of undocumented immigrants, policies he says will put Americans first. But what will that mean practically for workers and consumers? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer is joined by Oren Cass, the founder and chief economist of the conservative think tank American Compass, who thinks Trump’s tariff plan will be a step in the right direction. Many economists argue that Trump's tariff plans will raise consumer prices and spark a global trade war, but Cass argues they're a necessary correction that will incentivize domestic manufacturing, reduce the deficit, and counter China’s unfair trade practices.
“If you actually believe that making things in America matters, then we are going to have to find a way to put a thumb on the scale for getting more of that investment back here,” Cass explains, “And I think that's what a tariff can help do.”
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
What Donald Trump's second term will mean for the US economy
Listen: Donald Trump has promised to fix what he calls a broken economy and usher in a “golden age of America.” He’s vowed to implement record tariffs, slash regulation, and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. But what will that mean practically for America’s economic future? On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer is joined by Oren Cass, founder and chief economist at the conservative think tank American Compass, to discuss Trump’s economic agenda and why Cass believes it will help American workers and businesses in the long run. Mass deportations, he says, will lead to a tighter labor market that will force employers to raise wages and increase working conditions. He also argues that steep tariffs are the only way to level the playing field with China, which has “flouted any concept of a free market or fair trade” for decades. However, many economists warn that Trump’s plan will lead to rising inflation and a global trade war. So what’s the biggest argument for an America first economic agenda? Will it really lead to long-term benefits for workers? Oren Cass makes his case.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
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A strike by the International Longshoremen's Association, the union that represents 85,000 dockworkers, could shut down key port facilities in Newark and Elizabeth.
Dockworker strike brings chaos to dozens of US ports
Dockworker strike brings chaos to dozens of US ports
Traffic at East and Gulf Coast ports is set to plummet thanks to an overnight strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association. The union's 45,000 port workers launched a massive strike at midnight, halting operations at dozens of ports stretching from Maine to Texas.
The port workers have been demanding better pay and benefits and guarantees that automated machinery won’t replace their jobs. The ILA warned that if no agreement were reached with the US Maritime Alliance, the group representing employers, its members would walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.
The strike will impact nearly half of all US sea-borne imports and as much as 68% of containerized exports — everything from seafood, electronics, and pharmaceuticals, to cars and parts, and even some fruits.
Joe Biden could use the Taft-Hartley Act to intervene in the labor dispute. “Invoking the act might prove enticing to protect national and economic security,” says Jeremy Slater, a trade and supply chains expert at Eurasia Group. But Biden is unlikely to do so in this case, Slater says, “because it essentially undercuts labor rights by forcing negotiations and prohibiting collective striking – not great optics for a pro-labor administration.”
“The knock-on effects from a disruption would compound with every day offline, with a two-week strike necessitating recovery efforts into 2025 by some estimates,” Slater warns.