Letter: Trump’s tariffs, tax cuts caused long-term harm to the U.S. economy

To the editor,

Justin Hall’s opinion “Letter: November election,” fails to realize that two policies of his one-time president are the primary causes of the economic imbalance between consumers and corporations.

Trump eliminated corporate taxes. To make up the loss of that tax revenue, Congress had to borrow more and pay more interest on its borrowings. Trump’s tax policies reduced government revenues from taxes, and greatly increased the federal deficit, and so, increased the interest (we’ve) paid on that.

In 2015, interest payments added $407 billion to the federal budget, which Trump’s policies increased to $457 billion in 2017 and $574 billion in 2019. Increased interest to fund Trump’s policies were and continue to be inflationary.

Second, the Trump tariffs on Chinese-made goods did not increase the cost to make those goods in China or change the cost to ship those goods to big-box stores in the U.S. The tariffs simply were passed through to consumers here, which was equivalent to an $80 billion sales tax on the prices Americans pay for those tariffed goods.

Hall refuses to realize that government policies, like a tax cut or tariffs, have long-term economic effects. Trump made us pay more for tariffed Chinese-made goods, and Trump was fundamentally incapable of negotiating a beneficial trade deal with China.

Hall fails to indict Trump for his failed, inflationary economic policies, and refuses to understand how Trump’s short-sighted policies inflicted economic harm on 90% of the American people.

Lee Thomason

Prospect

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