Trump's Volatile Trade War Is Costing US Taxpayers $30 Billion a Year, and It May go up to $45 Billion Next Year

August 30th 2019

By Oliver Willis

Trump’s trade war is going to cost American taxpayers an additional $30 billion taxes a year, according to a new analysis released Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

“CBO estimates that all tariffs enacted under Trump are raising taxes by about $30 billion annually ($315B 2020-2029),” noted Zach Moller, deputy director of Third Way’s Economic Program. “This would rise to about $45 billion a year if announced tariffs go into effect.”

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The trade war tax hike would add to Trump’s already weak record on taxes.

Trump has claimed that the tax cut enacted by him and congressional Republicans in 2017 would be “rocket fuel” for the economy, but instead economic growth slowed. That legislation contained tax cuts targeted toward the super-rich and large corporations.

The trade war has weighed on American businesses and the economy.

Farmers have been filing bankruptcies at a record rate as Trump’s tariffs have kept them out of the global marketplace. China has raised tariffs for American goods in retaliation for the trade war.

The program designed to bail out farmers until the trade war is over is also experiencing major bureaucratic delays, with only a small sliver of the farmers who should receive funds actually taking in money so far. The government has now paid more than $1 million in interest to those farmers who haven’t received their payments on time.

Even when those payments are made, they will not make up for the shortfall from the trade war, and it will cost taxpayers billions.

At the same time, an overwhelming number of economists have said the trade war is dragging down the economic recovery Trump inherited from President Barack Obama and could lead to a recession.

Even as the trade war threatens the economy and passes increased costs to individual Americans and American businesses, Trump and his Republican allies continue to insist they are dug in for the long haul, no matter the harm.

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