BERLIN, February 6. /TASS/. The United States’ economy will receive a new impetus in the short term and will gain more than lose from the tariff policy proposed by US President Donald Trump, Thorsten Polleit, former Chief Economist of Degussa, Europe's largest precious metal trading house and Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of Bayreuth, told TASS.
"It would probably be a good idea for the Americans to replace the income tax with import tariffs, as Trump proposes. They will gain more than they lose - at least in the short term," the expert said.
In his opinion, the side effects of such a policy will have a positive impact on the American economy. In particular, the rise in the cost of imported goods will make American goods more competitive in price, and foreign manufacturers may decide to move their production to the United States, which will contribute to the growth of employment within the country. In this regard, the Trump administration's intention to ensure the lowest corporate taxes in the world is of no small importance, the economist added.
"Taken together, this increases the purchasing power of Americans and gives the economy a new impetus," Polleit summed up.
Earlier, Fox Business reported that during his speech in Florida on January 27, Trump proposed completely abolishing the federal income tax in order to return the United States to the "richest period" in its history. "Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens," the US President said.
On February 1, Trump signed an executive order to impose tariffs on goods from Canada, China, and Mexico. According to the document, duties of 25% are imposed on imports from Mexico and Canada (10% on Canadian energy resources). Trump later suspended their introduction for a month following his phone conversations with talks with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Additional tariffs of 10% are imposed on goods from China.