Former President Trump on Tuesday told voters in Georgia he would use tariffs to create a “manufacturing boom” if he wins in November, rejecting criticism from economists and Democrats that his plan would fuel inflation.
Trump gave what was billed as an economic speech in Savannah, Ga., which is home to one of the busiest ports in the United States and is a hub for shipping goods along the Atlantic Ocean.
The former president has pitched tariffs as something of a blanket solution for lowering costs, reducing the deficit and encouraging domestic manufacturing. In his speech in Georgia, Trump signaled he would use tariffs as leverage to discourage outsourcing and to punish foreign competitors.
“If you don’t make your product here, you will have to pay a tariff, a very substantial tariff when you send your product into the United States,” Trump said.
“And by the way, for years they knocked the word. The word ‘tariff,’ when properly used, is a beautiful word,” Trump continued. “One of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard. It’s music to my ears. A lot of bad people didn’t like that word but now they’re finding out I was right.”
Trump told the crowd tariff policy could be used to create a “manufacturing boom.”
“When they have to pay tariffs to come in but they have incentive to build here, they’re going to come roaring back,” Trump said.
While Trump has claimed the use of tariffs would lower costs, economists have repeatedly said it would cause companies to pass higher costs onto consumers and could worsen inflation. And experts have disputed Trump’s claim that tariffs would bring in billions of dollars for the U.S. government.
Trump a day earlier threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on Illinois-based John Deere if the company follows through on plans to outsource some of its manufacturing to Mexico by 2026.
The former president has said that, if he wins the White House in November, he will look to extend the tax cuts he first signed into law in 2017, which are set to expire next year, and push to lower the corporate tax rate further. Trump at one point Tuesday misspoke and said he gave Americans the “biggest tax hikes” in the country’s history.
Vice President Harris has offered a handful of specific economic proposals since she became the Democratic candidate in late July, describing them as part of her “opportunity economy” agenda. She has proposed a federal ban on price gouging, a call for increased housing supply and support for first-time homebuyers and an expanded child tax credit.
Harris has also proposed raising the corporate tax income tax rate to 28 percent, up from the current rate of 21 percent.
The Harris campaign on Tuesday dismissed Trump’s pledges to bring back manufacturing jobs, arguing his track record from his first term showed he saw thousands of jobs move overseas.
“When he was president, Trump incentivized companies to ship American jobs to China, and Trump’s second term agenda promises to crush thousands of American manufacturing jobs, send even more jobs to China, and cost middle class families $4,000 a year through his ‘Trump Tax,’” the Harris campaign said.
