One of the few economic policies that former President Donald Trump's campaign has offered for a potential second term is a 10 percent across-the-board tariff on all imports. Trump himself announced the policy in August 2023, stating: "When companies come in and they dump their products in the United States, they should pay automatically, let's say a 10% tax ... I do like the 10% for everybody."
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It's a policy that Trump and his campaign have mentioned repeatedly. In fact, his campaign is serious enough about the tariff that it referred The New York Times to former U.S. trade representative Robert Lightizer to describe the plan, which Lightizer noted would be a 10 percent tariff on top of existing tariffs.
A new Center for American Progress Action Fund analysis finds that the proposed across-the-board tariff would amount to a roughly $1,500 annual tax increase for the typical household, including a $90 tax increase on food, a $90 tax increase on prescription drugs, and a $120 tax increase on oil and petroleum products. This tax increase would drive up the price of goods while failing to significantly boost U.S. manufacturing and jobs.
To be sure, specific tariffs aimed at addressing a specific problem, such as forced labor or dumping of subsidized products, can play an important role in U.S. trade policy. But Trump's idea to slap a tariff on all imports—60 percent of which come from Canada, Mexico, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea—is reckless.
This is especially true when compared with the focused and more effective approach taken by the Biden administration. Biden's cohesive manufacturing strategy of both targeted trade enforcement and real investments in rebuilding the United States' industrial base has already generated $650 billion of new private sector investment in the U.S. manufacturing. This stands in sharp contrast to the real decline of investment in new U.S. manufacturing facilities that occurred during Trump's presidency.