I’m disappointed by many parts of the President’s speech, including his determination to keep taxes on hard-working Coloradans and all Americans, rather than issuing refunds. Tariffs are a tax – plain and simple – and families, farmers, and small businesses pay the price in higher costs at the grocery store, on construction materials, and everyday goods. You don’t lower costs by raising taxes on the American people.
Posted by governorPolis
2 Comments
THANK YOU, GOVERNOR POLISH
Unpopular, but I’m actually not terribly concerned about a low tariff. Too high and it’s massively distortionary, but a low tariff raises revenue while giving a small incentive to produce stuff domestically.
The US is running a huge budget deficit and there are really only two ways to address it sustainably:
– Raise taxes
– Cut spending
I can think of several worse taxes than a small tariff (less than 15%). Tariffs are just sales taxes on foreign goods. Taxes on consumption are generally good ways to raise revenue without hampering growth too much, and a lot of the stuff imported from overseas is non-essential consumption.