Fox's Steve Doocy downplays impact of Trump's new China tariffs on American families: “A lot of people don't feel the tariffs”

Economic forecasting firms predict hundreds of dollars annually in costs per family and the loss of 200,000 jobs from Trump's new tariffs

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

CBS News reported that the tariffs Trump placed on Chinese goods “could cost an average family of four $767 a year,” according to an estimate by the Trade Partnership consulting firm; Reuters cited an estimate from the forecasting firm Oxford Economics that Trump's tariffs “could lead to a loss of 200,000 jobs” by the end of 2020.

From the May 10 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): The news this morning as people get up and they hear oh, the tariffs kicked in. A lot of people don't feel the tariffs. There are certain industries that do. But nonetheless, the president made it very clear, I'm not going to cave, and as of right now he means it.

AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): Yeah, he said, “I like the president very much, he is a friend of mine.” But he said, “I have to serve the best interests of America.” And he said, “we have helped China rebuild. They're taking advantage of us. And they were not supposed to renegotiate without talking to us.” He said, “we were getting so close to a deal and they just all of a sudden changed the rules,” and he said, “I'm not going to stand for that.”

ED HENRY (CO-HOST): President Trump thinks he has room to run in both cases because both the Chinese economy and the North Korean economy are certainly not anywhere close to the shape that the U.S. economy is in. So he's playing the long game with both of them. In the case of North Korea, their economy is in shambles. With China, they still have a strong economy but they've hit so many problems recently the president thinks he's got the upper hand and he's going to try to wait out President XI. 

EARHARDT: Yeah, and they're going to continue talks today. 

Previously:

Fox & Friends guest suggests market backlash to Trump's trade war with China is happening because “New York City is the epicenter of liberal Democratic thinking”

On Fox & Friends, Stuart Varney defends Trump's $12 billion bailout for agricultural industry that he hurt with his tariffs

Fox's Stuart Varney calls stock market backlash to Trump's tariffs “an emotional response to the words ‘trade war’”