https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-tariff-harris-analysis-1.7303724In an era of growing protectionism, when tariffs are increasingly viewed as good, and foreign imports as bad, an unusual development is unfolding: One U.S. presidential candidate is vigorously bashing new trade barriers proposed by the other.
Kamala Harris's campaign speeches and written materials are laden with warnings about the damaging effects of Donald Trump's anti-trade platform; specifically, his call for a 10 per cent levy on all global imports, which has foreign governments, including Canada's, a little nervous.
"He intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax," Harris said during her prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
"Call it a Trump tax."
She argues it would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.
Though that's likely an inflated estimate, it's now a central Harris campaign message. And it's a sign that there are still limits to the political punch of protectionism, even in this age, when American politicians from both parties profess to be obsessed with building more at home, and relying less on China.
"The pendulum has, I think, reached its maximum limit," said Eric Miller, a Canadian-American trade consultant based in Washington.
"It doesn't mean we're going back to the halcyon days of a U.S. focus on free trade and all of that. What it means, though, is that putting tariffs on everything, all the time, is not something that's workable."
Certain types of tariffs remain popular and aren't going anywhere, he said: notably, on Chinese imports and specific imports accused of unfair trade practices.
After all, the Biden administration hasn't just kept Trump's China tariffs in place, it's expanded them in different ways, and it's also increased duties in other disputes, including on Canadian softwood lumber.
