Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks throughout a presidential debate with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on the Nationwide Structure Middle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Pictures
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris clashed on China coverage throughout the presidential debate hosted by ABC Information on Tuesday night time stateside.
In her opening statements, Harris took intention at Trump’s tariff coverage that has included vows to cross blanket duties of 10% to twenty% on all imports.
“My opponent has a plan that I name the ‘Trump gross sales tax,’ which might be a 20% tax on on a regular basis items that you simply depend on to get by the month,” she mentioned, including that the coverage would hit middle-class households.
Trump defended his tariff proposals, which embody extra duties of 60% to 100% on China that will double down on a commerce warfare he kicked off in his first administration.
“Different international locations are going to lastly, after 75 years, pay us again for all that we have finished for the world, and the tariff will likely be substantial,” the previous president mentioned, including that his administration had taken in “billions and billions of {dollars}” from China.
Some economists have estimated that U.S. companies and finish shoppers bore the brunt of the tariffs Trump levied in 2018 and 2019 towards the European Union and China.
Trump additionally identified that the Biden-Harris administration maintained most of his administration’s tariffs on China.
“If she does not like them, they need to have gone out and they need to have instantly reduce the tariffs,” Trump mentioned.
“They by no means took the tariff off, as a result of it was a lot cash. They can not, it will completely destroy all the things that they’ve got down to do.”
Along with retaining most of Trump’s tariffs, the Biden administration in Might raised tariffs on $18 billion of Chinese language items, together with semiconductors and electrical autos.
Most economists usually agree that tariffs increase costs. Steve Kamin, senior fellow on the American Enterprise Institute, reiterated that time to CNBC’s “Squawk Field Asia” on Wednesday, arguing that Trump’s extra tariffs can be “each inflationary and contractionary.”
Trump sought to downplay these considerations within the debate, arguing that the American shoppers wouldn’t be those paying for elevated duties.
“What is going on to occur and who’s going to have increased costs is China and the entire international locations which have been ripping us off for years,” he mentioned.
In the meantime, Harris used her time within the debate to argue that the Trump administration had been too weak on China.
“Let’s be clear that the Trump administration resulted in a commerce deficit, one of many highest we have ever seen within the historical past of America,” Harris mentioned, including that he had “invited commerce wars.”
“Beneath Donald Trump’s presidency, he ended up promoting American chips to China to assist them enhance and modernize their army,” she mentioned in an obvious reference to the present administration’s efforts to limit China’s entry to superior semiconductors by coverage such because the CHIPS and Science Act.
“[He] mainly offered us out when a coverage about China needs to be in ensuring the US of America wins the competitors for the twenty first century,” Harris mentioned.
“That requires specializing in relationships with our allies, specializing in investing in American-based expertise in order that we win the race, on AI, on quantum computing, specializing in what we have to do to help America’s workforce.”
Economists and coverage consultants beforehand instructed CNBC that Trump’s financial coverage on China in a second time period can be anticipated to give attention to heavy commerce tariffs. In distinction, Harris is predicted to focus extra on focused restrictions coordinated with U.S. allies.
