Trump vowed to reduce prices, but his policies have fueled US inflation | Steven Greenhouse

‘Even though economists warned that tariffs would be inflationary, Trump has enthusiastically embraced them’

Donald Trump successfully campaigned for his second term two years ago promising to reduce prices on day one, but ever since he returned to the White House, he has done little to fight inflation or reduce prices. Instead, some of his most important policy decisions – most notably his war against Iran and his tariff wars – have increased inflation instead of reducing it. This helps explain why more than one in five Americans who voted for Trump now disapprove of the job he’s doing.

Even though economists warned that tariffs would be inflationary, Trump has enthusiastically embraced them during his second term. Indeed, the “liberation day” tariffs he imposed soon after returning to office increased the price of hundreds of goods, including citrus fruits, steel, bananas, beef and auto parts. When the supreme court overturned those tariffs as illegal, Trump immediately imposed new 10% across-the-board tariffs that again helped push up prices (a lower court found those tariffs unlawful, too). Time and again, Trump has slapped on new tariffs even though they inherently push up prices because tariffs are a tax on imported goods. Little wonder that a Fox News poll this month found that 77% of Americans disapprove of how Trump has handled tariffs.

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