Historical evidence and recent studies show that tariffs raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for U.S. businesses and consumers, which results in lower income, reduced employment, and lower economic output. For example, the effects of higher steel prices, largely a result of the 2002 Bush steel tariffs, led to a loss of nearly 200,000 jobs in the steel-consuming sector, a loss larger than the total employment in the steel-producing sector at the time. It’s also worth noting that measures of trade flows, such as the trade balance, are accounting identities and should not be misunderstood to be indicators of economic health.
The Biden administration should provide relief to U.S. industries and workers by lifting the Trump tariffs, as they have failed in their objective to bring better trading practices and instead brought about economic damage. Further, the Biden administration should join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) or sign bilateral trade agreements with other Asian-Pacific countries to continue to diversify U.S. supply chains, expand access to foreign markets, and promote U.S. economic growth. Learn more about Biden tariffs and trade proposals and explore our analysis of Trump trade war policies below.
If reelected, President Trump would drastically escalate the trade war he started during his first term. But what often goes unnoticed is President Biden’s role in continuing Trump’s first trade war. In fact, more tax revenue from the trade war tariffs has been collected under Biden than under Trump.
5 min read
The Trump administration imposed nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products, amounting to one of the largest tax increases in decades. The Biden administration has so far kept most of the Trump administration tariffs in place.
12 min read
Former President Donald Trump’s proposed 10 percent tariff would raise taxes on American consumers by more than $300 billion a year—a tax increase rivaling the ones proposed by President Biden.
3 min read
While the U.S. tariffs were intended to protect American industries, they have largely hurt the U.S. economy. Rather than pass on the tariffs to Chinese consumers, analysis shows that most U.S. firms simply bore the costs.
4 min read
Policymakers actively marginalized the manufacturing sector by saddling them with cost recovery rules that prevent them from deducting the full cost of investment in physical plant and equipment. Going forward, policymakers should avoid haphazard fixes, targeted measures, and protectionism.
50 min read
As lawmakers today look for ways to boost American industry and reduce costs for consumers, they should pay attention to the mountains of evidence that the Trump-Biden tariffs have harmed American consumers and businesses.
5 min read
If reelected, President Trump would drastically escalate the trade war he started during his first term. But what often goes unnoticed is President Biden’s role in continuing Trump’s first trade war. In fact, more tax revenue from the trade war tariffs has been collected under Biden than under Trump.
5 min read
If a multilateral solution to remove digital services taxes (DSTs) is not agreed to, then DSTs will continue to spread and mutate with negative impacts on some of the most innovative companies in the world.
14 min read
What does it mean to be an American company?
4 min read
Historical evidence and recent studies have shown that retaliatory tax and trade proposals raise prices and reduce the quantity of goods and services available to U.S. businesses and consumers, resulting in lower incomes, reduced employment, and lower economic output.
5 min read
The Trump campaign is mulling a massive tax increase on American purchases from China. If reelected, he might quintuple the tax, imposing tariffs of 60 percent on imports from China. The economic ramifications would be significant and unwelcome.
5 min read
A national-level carbon price—a tax or cap-and-trade scheme placed on CO2 or other greenhouse gases—may seem distant in the U.S., especially since the Inflation Reduction Act, which included major climate policy, omitted one. However, policymakers on both sides of the aisle have been nibbling around the edges of carbon taxes.
5 min read
A multilateral agreement that eliminates digital services taxes would be valuable, but not if it introduces more complexity and leaves unanswered many questions about the impacts on the U.S. tax base.
8 min read
The OECD recently released a trove of new documents on a draft multilateral tax treaty. The U.S. Treasury has opened a 60-day consultation period for the proposal and is requesting public review and input.
7 min read
The assessment of the tariffs former president Donald Trump imposed in 2018 and 2019 is clear: the policies have had a negative effect on American’s welfare.
4 min read
Short FormPoliticians often bemoan the trade deficit, but their disdain for this economic statistic is largely misplaced. The trade deficit reflects deeper choices about how we use our money, and reducing it may require lowering our standard of living.
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What can Former President Trump’s previous tariff efforts—specifically the safeguards he authorized on imported washing machines in 2018—tell us about his most recent proposal for a 10 percent tariff on all imports?
5 min read
Former President Donald Trump’s proposed 10 percent tariff would raise taxes on American consumers by more than $300 billion a year—a tax increase rivaling the ones proposed by President Biden.
3 min read
The United Nations (UN) is preparing to flex its muscles on international tax policy. Several developing countries say the OECD’s approach favors richer countries at their expense, and the UN hopes to fix this.
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Canada is planning to join the club of countries that, in the past 3 years, introduced a digital services tax (DST) despite U.S. opposition and concerns expressed by Canadian businesses.
4 min read
The Trump administration imposed nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products, amounting to one of the largest tax increases in decades. The Biden administration has so far kept most of the Trump administration tariffs in place.
12 min read
Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Christopher Coons (D-DE) have recently introduced a bill laying the groundwork for a possible solution to the problem: a tax on the carbon content of imports. But it falls short of the optimal approach in several ways.
4 min read
The legislation follows from the bipartisan concern regarding tax policies adopted by other countries specifically targeting U.S. businesses or the U.S. tax base.
6 min read
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a key aspect of the EU’s broader Fit for 55 package which aims to cut 55 percent of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU by 2030. The growing number of competing climate policies between the EU and U.S., such as tax provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, could present policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic an opportunity to work together.
5 min read
When designed well, excise taxes discourage the consumption of products that create external harm and generate revenue for funding services that ameliorate social costs. The effectiveness of excise tax policy depends on the appropriate selection of the tax base and tax rate, as well as the efficient use of revenues.
83 min read
The overall U.S. tax and transfer system is overwhelmingly progressive, and understanding the extent—and source—of that progressivity is essential for lawmakers considering the trade-offs associated with each tax policy decision.
23 min read