New Delhi, 8 October (IANS). Former IMF chief economist Geeta Gopinath said on Wednesday that tariff proposals by US President Donald Trump acted as tax on American consumers, increased inflation and did not benefit the US economy.
Criticizing Trump’s Liberation Day Tariff, Gopinath said that the scorecard has been negative for the last six months.
Trump declared Liberation Day on 2 April, it was the day when he announced to increase the tariff.
He announced the National Emergency regarding the US trade deficit and implemented the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose wide tariffs on foreign imports.
Their purpose was to remove inappropriate trade obstacles for decades, causing damage to American producers.
However, Gopinath said that as Trump claimed, tariffs neither improved trade balance nor promoted manufacturing in the US. This did not benefit the US economy.
In a post on social media platform X, Gopinath said, Liberation Day Tariff has been implemented 6 months. What is achieved by American tariff? “
He said, did this increase the revenue of the government? Yes, to a large extent, which was borne by American companies and some American consumers were passed. In this way, Trump’s decision acted like a tax on the US firm and consumers.
Did inflation increase? Yes, overall in small amounts. Inflation increased for home appliances, furniture, coffee.
Did business balance improve? There is no sign of this yet.
Did American manufacturing improve? There is no sign of this yet. Overall, the score card remains negative.
India was first imposed on 25 percent tariff, followed by an additional 25 percent tariff of 25 percent on the purchase of Russian crude oil.
On 26 September, Trump announced a plan to impose 100 percent tariff on branded and patented pharma products from 1 October.
-IANS
SKT/
