Washington, D.C. – Former President Donald Trump expressed his desire to bring back jobs to the United States through the use of tariffs during a recent speech in Washington, D.C. He suggested that the imposition of tariffs could help to achieve this goal and indicated that he had already begun the process during his first term in office. If reelected, he vowed to continue with these efforts, without providing specific details on how he plans to block the sale of U.S. steel.
Critics of the U.S. steel sale, from both parties, have urged the Biden administration to use all available powers to prevent the deal from proceeding, citing potential negative impacts on unionized workers. President Biden’s economic team has promised to give the acquisition thorough review as part of the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S.’s oversight of deals involving foreign entities.
Moreover, Trump was ambiguous about his plans for implementing new tariffs on imports from foreign trading partners. During his previous term, he imposed tariffs on over $360 billion worth of imports from China, a policy that the Biden administration has largely maintained. Recently, Trump has expressed support for further increasing tariffs, including the possibility of raising tariffs on Chinese goods to as much as 40%, along with plans to push tariffs on imports from China to as high as 60% and imposing a 10% tariff on all other imports.
When questioned about these reports, Trump remained evasive, stating that he wants to focus on bringing back manufacturing to the United States and even suggested the production of Chinese cars in the U.S. without providing details on how he plans to achieve this. The former president’s statements indicate a continued push for protectionist trade policies as a means to revitalize U.S. manufacturing and jobs.