President Donald Trump on Thursday acknowledged that U.S. consumers are paying more for goods because of the tariffs he has set, a shift in rhetoric even as he insisted that the policy has benefited Americans overall.
Trump, who has used tariffs as a diplomatic and economic cudgel since coming into office, long has insisted that foreign nations are the ones putting money into U.S. coffers because of the levies. Economists say tariffs are paid by the consumers of the goods themselves.
Justice questions tariffs powers
U.S. Supreme Court justices raised doubts on Wednesday over the legality of. Asked if he agreed that Americans were paying the tariffs, Trump said: “No, I don’t agree. I think that they might be paying something. But when you take the overall impact, the Americans are gaining tremendously.”
For months Trump has repeatedly emphasized his view that other countries pay the tariffs. He has set levies on imports from China, Canada, the European Union and others around the world.
Trump warns out fallout if court rules against his tariff powers
Removing tariffs from his proverbial tool box would take away an instrument that Trump says he has used to end conflicts between other countries and bring economic fairness to the U.S., which faces tariffs put in place by its trading partners as well. “I think it’d be devastating for our country, but I also think that we’ll have to develop a ‘game two’ plan. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said about a potential Supreme Court ruling against him.
