Former president Donald Trump clashed with the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, John Micklethwait, over tariff and told him it must be hard for the editor to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain that he was totally wrong.
John Micklethwait pressed Trump at the Economic Club of Chicago over his plans to impose a universal tariff on imports and his threats to use tariffs on American companies that outsource their manufacturing.Micklethwait noted Trump’s plans would essentially halt trade with China, place at least a 10 percent tariff on European nations and have a drastic effect on the U.S. economy, where 40 million jobs rely on trade.
“That is going to have a serious effect on the overall economy,” Micklethwait said.
“It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you’re totally wrong,” Donald Trump reported.
Micklethwait said that is just simple mathematics that critics have said Trump’s tariff proposals for all imports would amount to a national sales tax, with $3 trillion worth of imports affected and companies passing on higher costs to buyers.
Trump said higher tariffs would make it more likely for foreign companies to build factories in the United States. “I was always very good at Mathematics,” Trump said as he added that he’s all about growth and will bring companies to the country. He also said that tariff is his favorite word in the dictionary.
“How does it help you take on China turning all of your allies against you?” Micklethwait asked.
“Tremendously, because China thinks we’re a stupid country,” Trump said. “They can’t believe somebody finally got wise to them.”
Ahead of the interview, Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief said they reached out to Kamala Harris for an interview about her economic policies but she declined so far.