Harris Calls Trump's Broad Tariff Proposal 'a National Sales Tax'

Former President Donald Trump said last week that he might put not just a blanket 10% tariff on imports from countries other than China, but 20% tariffs, at least on "foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years" (see 2408140058).

A left-of-center think tank, the Center for American Progress, said its analysis of a 20% tariff on all imports other than from China, and 60% on Chinese goods, projects that a middle-class family would spend $3,900 more annually on purchases, with 40% of the increase from more expensive U.S. products, because the manufacturers are paying more for inputs. Prices for autos, motorcycles, furniture, toys, drugs, electronics, apparel, food -- all would climb as a result of the tariffs, the analysis said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, campaigning Aug. 16, called this broad tariff proposal "a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities that we import from other countries."

She said that "will devastate Americans. It will mean higher prices on just about every one of your daily needs: a Trump tax on gas, a Trump tax on food, a Trump tax on clothing, a Trump tax on over-the-counter medication," she said, and cited the $3,900 figure from CAP.

She added, "At this moment when everyday prices are too high, he will make them even higher."

The next day, Trump argued that American consumers would not pay the tariffs, that they're a tax on foreign countries. Studies have shown U.S. buyers paid essentially all the costs of the Section 301 tariffs Trump imposed and the Biden-Harris administration retained.