What Trump’s New Tariff Push Means for the Economy: QuickTake

The US heavily taxed imports for much of its history before largely abandoning the policy, beginning in the 1930s, as government leaders embraced the idea of free trade. Tariffs made a comeback during the 2017-2021 presidency of Donald Trump, who turned to them in an effort to revitalize American manufacturing and counter what the US regards as China’s unfair trade practices. Trump’s successor Joe Biden kept the trend going.

Trump is promising to put import taxes back at the center of US economic policy during his second term in office. His plans for sweeping new tariff increases have reignited ...