Washington: US President Donald Trump has mounted a forceful defence of his global tariff policy, claiming that import duties have made the United States wealthy and compelled foreign companies to shift manufacturing to America.
Addressing a Republican rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Trump described tariffs as one of his favourite policy tools and said they were generating revenue while creating American jobs.
“It’s my all-time favorite word. I love tariffs. I love the word. It’s made us rich as hell,” Trump said.
The President argued that tariffs gave foreign companies a clear choice: pay additional duties on goods exported to the US or manufacture those products inside the country.
Explaining his approach to foreign carmakers, Trump said: “I say, ‘Gotta pay 25 per cent tariff.’ They say, ‘Well, we can’t do that.’ I said, ‘That’s okay. You don’t have to do it. Come over here and build your cars in the United States.’”
“And that’s what they’re doing in South Carolina,” he added.
Trump said the policy was producing record levels of manufacturing and automobile investment in South Carolina and elsewhere in the country.
“We went 40 years without building a car factory. And now we’re building more car plants and factories than we ever have in the history of our country,” he claimed.
Trump placed the total value of investments flowing into the United States at $19.2 trillion. The transcript did not provide a breakdown of that figure, identify the companies involved or specify the period covered.
“$19.2 trillion is being invested right now in the United States more than any country at any time by many, many times,” he said.
Trump also linked the investment to rising demand for construction workers. He said hundreds, and possibly thousands, of factories were being built across the country.
“The construction jobs are through the roof because they’re building all of these plants, factories, hundreds of them all over the country, thousands of them,” he said.
The President said manufacturing was expanding at its fastest pace in years. He also claimed that the stock market had recorded 80 all-time highs since his election and that the value of a typical retirement account had increased by nearly $40,000.
Trump tied his economic argument to the November midterm elections, warning that Democratic victories would reverse his tax, trade and manufacturing policies.
“Your taxes are going to go up. Your pay is going to go down. Your jobs are going to be lost,” he said.
He urged supporters to vote for Senate candidate Darlene Graham in Tuesday’s Republican runoff, telling the crowd that maintaining Republican control of Congress was necessary to preserve his economic programme.
Tariffs are taxes collected on imported goods and are generally paid to the government by the importing company. Businesses can absorb the additional expense, seek price reductions from suppliers or pass some or all of the cost to consumers.
(IANS)
