2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: China announced a 34 percent tariff on all U.S. imports in response to President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs of the same rate on Chinese goods.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Trump, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and affected American companies.
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📍 Where & When: China’s tariffs, announced following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff unveiling, go into effect on April 10.
💬 Key Quote: The Chinese Ministry of Finance complained that the U.S. tariffs “undermine global economic development and stability.”
⚠️ Impact: Declines in stock markets, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 experiencing losses, but manufacturing will likely be “reshored” to America over the medium to long term.
IN FULL:
China has declared a new 34 percent tariff on all imports from the United States, following President Donald J. Trump’s recent announcement of similar duties on Chinese goods. President Trump is moving to stimulate domestic manufacturing and address trade discrepancies by using tariffs to level the playing field for American businesses.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) condemns Trump’s tariffs, claiming they breach international trade standards and threaten global economic interests.
Further complicating trade relations, China enforced export controls on vital rare earth minerals and listed several American businesses as “unreliable entities.” Meanwhile, Trump reinstated 25 percent steel and aluminum tariffs on China in February in order to close loopholes allowing China to dump cheap metals on American markets.
In a recent address, President Trump characterized the imposition of tariffs as a long-overdue correction of an inequitable trade landscape that has persisted over several decades. He asserted that the move heralds the return to American industrial strength, with sweatshop economies and countries that erect their own tariff and non-tariff barriers against American exporters no longer having easy access to the American market.
Reacting to China’s new tariffs on April 4, Trump stated, “China played it wrong, they panicked—the one thing they cannot afford to do!” Trump added that China should have made a deal earlier, urging companies to avoid tariffs by investing in America.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is pushing the GOP to reembrace unpopular globalist economic policies, is criticizing President Donald J. Trump’s imposition of extensive global tariffs, claiming they represent the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history.
👥 Who’s Involved: Mike Pence, Donald Trump, and America First conservatives, including Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro.
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📍 Where & When: Pence posted criticism to X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday evening following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” event.
💬 Key Quote: “The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history,” claims Pence.
⚠️ Impact: Critics like Pence claim the tariffs could cost American families over $3,500 per year, destroy jobs, and weaken conservative political standing. Additionally, the Pence-led Advancing American Freedom PAC contends the tariffs will counteract the benefits of previous tax cuts.
IN FULL:
Former Vice President Mike Pence publicly criticized President J. Donald Trump’s imposition of a 10 percent blanket global tariff and additional targeted tariffs in response to pre-existing foreign trade barriers, claiming the new import duties will result in significant economic burdens for American families. Additionally, in a Wednesday night post on X (formerly Twitter), Pence asserted the tariffs represent the most substantial peacetime tax increase in U.S. history.
“The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history,” Pence claimed, adding: “These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.” Attached to Pence’s X post was a screenshot of anti-Trump tariff talking points pushed by his Advancing American Freedom PAC.
Advancing American Freedom PAC’s claim that the tariffs will cost American families over $3,500 per year is based on a Goldman Sachs estimate, which pegs the total tariff revenue at around $300 billion annually. However, Pence and his Advancing American Freedom PAC appear to assume that American families will bear the bulk of the tax burden imposed by the tariffs—a fairly unlikely scenario—and not foreign companies attempting to maintain their market share in the United States.
Meanwhile, Pence’s assertion that Trump’s tariffs are “the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history” is on equally shaky ground. While tariffs are technically taxes, they are not entirely borne by Americans, with at least part of the import duty paid by foreign companies. Additionally, Advancing American Freedom PAC states that Trump’s tariffs are the highest imposed since the 1800s, claiming the imposed rate is higher than the Smoot-Hawley tariffs from the Great Depression.
The first claim is dubious at best, though the assertion that the Trump tariff rate is higher than those imposed under Smoot-Hawley is patently false. Pence and Advancing American Freedom PAC are playing fast and loose with what they consider the average tariff rate to make the claim. The Smoot-Hawley tariffs imposed a 59.1 percent rate on dutiable goods, though around 63 percent of foreign imports were not considered dutiable under the law. This places the average tariff rate under Smoot-Hawley at just under 20 percent.
President Trump’s tariffs include a blanket 10 percent tariff on all imports with additional target tariffs on specific countries with pre-existing trade barriers against American exports. Estimates regarding the average rate range from around 15 percent to 20 percent, though the lower side of the range appears more likely.
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