[US Election D-50 Trade Check] "Tariffs Are Trump's VAT" VS "Billions in Tax Revenue from China"

U.S. Presidential Election's Different Trade Policies
Trump Claims Title of "Tariff President"
Harris Says "Tariffs Threaten the Middle Class"

"Tariffs are the 'Trump surtax'." (Kamala Harris, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate) "If you didn't like tariffs, (the Biden administration) should have removed them." (Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate)

Looking at the trade positions expressed by Harris and Trump during the U.S. presidential debate earlier this month, the parties' pledges are similar yet clearly different.

The Republican Party is signaling strong tariff imposition if re-elected. Just as during President Trump's tenure when tariffs were regarded as a 'panacea' for economic issues, they are expected to be used as a tool to pressure concessions from other countries. Trump has declared plans to enact a 'reciprocal trade law' that imposes a universal tariff of 10-20% on all imports and retaliates with equivalent tariffs against countries that impose tariffs on the U.S. In particular, targeting China, he proposed more aggressive tariff pledges including high tariffs exceeding 60%, revoking Most Favored Nation (MFN) status, reducing imports of essential Chinese products, and banning Chinese acquisitions of U.S. companies and real estate.

During his campaign, Trump refers to himself as the 'Tariff President.' In the debate, he pointed out that "Harris should have removed tariffs if she didn't like them," noting that the Biden administration maintains the tariffs he imposed on China and has collected billions of dollars in tariffs from China as a result. He also claimed that although prices have soared under the Biden administration, "there was no inflation during my term," and asserted, "They have destroyed the economy."

On the other hand, the Democratic Party counters that additional tariffs increase the price burden on the American middle class. They argue that imposing tariffs would cost middle-class households nearly $4,000 annually (about 5.32 million KRW). Harris stated in the recent debate that "(Trump's tariff policy) is like imposing a 20% sales tax," and aggressively claimed that it would ultimately increase the U.S. fiscal deficit by $5 trillion (about 6,645 trillion KRW) and place a heavy burden on middle-class families.

However, current President Joe Biden is no different from former President Trump in weaponizing tariffs. Plans are also in place to impose additional tariffs on Chinese products. The Harris campaign explained that the additional tariffs are "strategic targeted tariffs to support American workers, strengthen our economy, and hold our adversaries accountable." Rather than weaponizing tariffs against allies, the approach is to strategically select tariffs at levels necessary for competition with China, Russia, and others in key industries such as semiconductors and electric vehicles. In this regard, last May, new tariffs totaling $18 billion (about 23.976 trillion KRW) were proposed on certain Chinese products including electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, steel, and medical devices.