White House dodges Biden-Harris ‘sales tax’ with China tariffs

Trump has pledged to impose tariffs of up to 20% on all imports, a plan Harris dubbed the “Trump sales tax” during their presidential debate Tuesday. Most economists say Trump’s proposal would actually raise costs for consumers and could push the country into a recession.

According to the Center for American Progress Action, a single 20 percent tariff on all imports could increase annual costs by nearly $4,000 for middle-class households.

However, the Biden administration has announced a series of new tariffs on Chinese imports, aimed specifically at boosting the domestic auto industry.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre was asked why Biden’s tariffs do not constitute a sales tax on American consumers, as she said Trump’s tariffs would.

Jean-Pierre said Biden’s policies are aimed at countering “China’s unfair trade practices.”

She then blamed the Trump administration for failing to reverse the US trade deficit with China, before claiming that Biden had reduced the “annual trade deficit with China” to its “lowest” point in a decade. Yet Jean-Pierre could not explain precisely why this new tariff package would not increase costs for American households.

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“What we’re trying to do is make sure that we protect American workers and American businesses. That’s what we’re doing,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is root out China’s unfair practices, and we’ve seen the results of that. That’s the commitment that this president made in May, and that’s the commitment that’s going to continue. It’s about American workers and American businesses, and we’re certainly going to continue to fight China’s unfair trade practices.”

You can watch the briefing in full below.