Nikki Haley slammed former President Donald Trump for backing a trade and tariff plan that she claims will cost Americans thousands of dollars per year.
The former president has been outspoken about his idea of putting a blanket 10 percent tariff on all imported goods.
In addition to the 10 percent tariff, Trump has privately discussed implementing a huge 60 percent tariff applied to all imports coming from China, The Washington Post first reported.
‘What Donald Trump’s about to do, is he’s going to raise every household’s expenses by $2,600 a year,’ Haley said on CNBC. She was citing a figure from the National Taxpayers Union.
‘This is a man who now wants to go and put 10 percent tariffs across the board, raising taxes on every single American. Think about that for a second,’ Haley added.
‘It’s going to raise the cost of anything from baby strollers to appliances, under Donald Trump,’ she continued. ‘Middle class families can’t afford that.’
Haley slammed Trump for his trade and tariff plans that she claims will cost U.S. taxpayers thousands of dollars per year
Former President Donald Trump has said that he would want a 10 percent tariff on all imports
Trump has mulled the idea of putting a 60 percent tariff on all goods imported from China
Trump even suggested that tariffs could be used to force auto companies to manufacture their cars in the U.S.
″[I] would require China, and other countries, through TARIFFS, or otherwise, to build plants here, with our workers,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
If Trump were to enact his 10 percent tariff plan, the result would effectively raise taxes on U.S. consumers by more than $300 billion a year, according to the Tax Foundation, a D.C.-based think tank.
The trade war waged between Trump and China when the former president was in office is estimated to have cost 245,000 American jobs, according to 2021 report from the U.S.-China Business Council.
Haley’s attack on the former president’s trade plans come as she is down in the polls.
Trump is leading Haley by 63 points in the Republican primary, according to a poll released today by Morning Consult.
Despite this, Haley has claimed she will stick in the presidential race until at least the presidential primary in her home state South Carolina. The primary will take place on Feb. 24.
“It’s far from over,’ Haley told CNBC. ‘And what I’ll tell you is, look, [Trump] has been literally unhinged ever since I got 43% of the vote in New Hampshire.’
Trump’s camp shot back at the charge.
‘President Trump has always sided and protected American workers by holding other countries accountable. That’s why he announced his plan to return jobs and wealth to the United States, launch an economic boom that will lift our middle class, and eliminate our dependence on China and other countries, known as the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.
‘Contrast that with Nikki Haley who sided with China and opposed tariffs on Chinese goods,’ he continued. ‘In 2014, Haley wanted the U.S. Commerce Department to lower a tariff on tires made in China by Giti Tire, which was in the middle of building a $560 million plant in South Carolina. The tariffs were initially imposed to compete with hefty subsidies Chinese manufacturers receive from the Communist Party.’