US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen considers Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s plans for drastic tariff increases on imports to be “completely misguided”. In excerpts from a speech that she planned to give in New York that was distributed in advance on Thursday, Yellen firmly opposed the economic policy plans of the Republican, who wants to be re-elected in the presidential election on November 5th.
Trump’s “demands to seal off America from friends and competitors with high tariffs” are “completely misguided,” the speech excerpts say. “Even the closest allies” are affected. In view of global challenges such as pandemics or climate change, resorting to old recipes is not sufficient. It was also said that the USA could not assert its economic and security interests on its own.
Donald Trump wants tariff increases of up to 20 percent
Trump has announced significant tariff increases of 10 to 20 percent on all foreign imports and 60 percent on products from China if he is re-elected. According to Yellen’s assessment, this would drive up costs for US households and make US companies less competitive.
