Former President Donald Trump, in a video released today as part of his "Agenda47" plan for a return to the White House, unveiled the "Trump Reciprocal Trade Act," a tariff plan he said will return jobs and wealth to the United States, as well as bring an economic boom to lift the middle class and eliminate the country's dependence on China and other countries.
The act, Trump said, will provide other countries with two choices: "They'll get rid of their tariffs on us, or they will pay us hundreds of billions of dollars, and the United States will make an absolute fortune."
This means that "if India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff," Trump said in the video. "In other words, 100% is 100%. If they charge us, we charge them — an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount."
The act will also empower Trump, if elected, to negotiate tariff reductions on foreign goods if other countries agree to reduce their tariffs.
The legislation "advances the views of 91% of conservatives and even 75% of Democrats, who support placing reciprocal tariffs on foreign imports to protect American workers," the campaign said.
The proposed legislation has precedent in U.S. history, as the country imposed tariffs on over 95% of all imports, with an average tariff of 37% on imports during America’s economic climb between 1816 and 1947.
This meant that for decades, "the U.S. government received over 80% of its revenue through tariffs on foreign goods, instead of taxes on Americans," but now, the country's "tariffs are now among the lowest in the world, making America the most import-pressured country in the world."
For example, China's tariff average is 341% higher than that of the United States and the European Union tariff is 50% higher, while the world average tariff rate is more than twice that of the U.S., the campaign said.
However, by raising tariffs on foreign countries, taxes on U.S. workers, businesses, and families will drop, according to Trump's plan.
Trump is also promising to revoke China's most favored nation trade status, saying it is past time that China gets preferential treatment while undermining American national security interests.
"Joe Biden has run up record trade deficits, also known as losses, higher than any president in history by far," Trump said in the video. "These gaping wounds are costing our country countless jobs and trillions and trillions of dollars in wealth."
He added that one of his top economic priorities will be "to stem this bleeding and put American workers on a level playing field. I did it three years ago, and they were doing great, but that’s been blown out the window by the Biden administration."
However, the new legislation will mean that other countries will react by dropping their tariffs, "but if they don't, that's okay. We'll take in plenty of money … there will be no more unilateral economic surrender like we’ve done for many, many decades."
The act will "especially help our great farmers in Iowa and other agricultural states, and it will help our manufacturers all across the nation," Trump added. "We will be knocking down barriers to American farm products, American dairy products, steel — just about everything you can think of. From all around the world they take advantage of us, but no more."
"We have been the whipping post for everyone else," he concluded. "We have been a country that was disrespected on trade, and frankly, disrespected on just about everything. No more."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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