Tariffs Will Likely Cancel Out Impact of Tax Cuts

John Harwood: “President Trump has embarked on an unorthodox follow-up to cutting the taxes American families pay: raising the prices of goods they buy.”

“Higher prices will result directly from tariffs the White House plans to impose on steel and aluminum imports from allies such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union as well as other countries… But combined with additional tariffs against other imports from China and retaliatory steps by our trading partners, the measures Trump announced promise to make an impact. And mainstream economists across the political spectrum agree it will be negative.”

Said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican economist who advised President George W. Bush: “Unambiguously bad. The only question is how big.”