Fox News economist panel agrees Trump tariffs are bad for consumers
Douglas Holtz-Eakin: “There is nearly universal agreement that those tariffs will be upward pressure on costs and consumers will ultimately pay them”
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From the February 14, 2025, edition of Fox News' America Reports
SANDRA SMITH (ANCHOR): President Trump's looking to reshape trade with the signing yesterday of reciprocal tariffs. It comes just days after a hotter-than-expected CPI report showing that pressure is not letting up. For more on this let's bring in Doug Holtz-Eakin, former Congressional Budget Office director and American Action Forum president, and Jared Bernstein, former chair of the council of economic advisors. Thanks to both of you. Jared, it's nice to have you back on the program. So what do you think, by the way, so far of this administration's economic policies, having worked in the last administration?
JARED BERNSTEIN (FORMER CHAIR, U.S. COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS): I'm worried about the extent to which the tariff agenda is going to hurt American consumers. There is no question in my mind, and economist broadly agree on this, that tariffs work like a sales tax for the consumers of the country that's putting those tariffs on those imports. And to the extent that we have, already, a problem getting inflation back down to where we want it to be and especially given that the price level, what things actually cost — and trust me, I'm a veteran of this, I've have been through this for a bunch of years now — consumers really don't like that. Trump will not be able to keep the promises you just heard about getting prices down, and tariffs push the wrong way.
SMITH: Well, with all due respect, many say inflation is the ultimate tax on the American consumer. And most of that did happen under your watch during the administration.
Austan Goolsbee, who I don't consider a right-leaning economist by any stretch, formerly with the University of Chicago, now with the Chicago Federal Reserve, he was on this program this week and he said this about inflation ticking up in that latest number. Watch.
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SMITH: I was interested in that moment, Douglas. Your thoughts.
DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN (PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ACTION FORUM): I think you'd have to agree with Austan, you should be for growth, you should be for productivity and any supply side improvements that ease pressure on inflation and the price level.
But I'd have to concur with Jared that the tariffs is not the answer to that — those challenges. There is nearly universal agreement that those tariffs will be upward pressure on costs and consumers will ultimately pay them. The president's tariff agenda is very ambitious; it's not just a modest increase like his first presidency. This is every country, in a very complicated fashion, setting tariffs and essentially letting the other country dictate how high they go. Because if they raise taxes, we raise our tariffs. And so, I don't like giving up control of economic policy, and I don't like this aspect of the administration's portfolio.