Vice President Kamala Harris attacked the idea of placing United States tariffs on foreign imports to favor domestic producers during her speech at the Democrat National Convention (DNC).
“And all the while, he intends to enact what is in effect a national sales tax — call it a ‘Trump tax’ — that would raise prices on middle class families by almost $4,000 a year,” Harris said.
Harris’s remark refers to former President Donald Trump’s policy platform that seeks to impose across-the-board tariffs on all foreign imports to boost domestic manufacturing and protect Americans’ jobs and wages from unfair, often subsidized products.
In her line of attack against U.S. tariffs, Harris uses talking points from the libertarian-oriented National Taxpayers Union, which lobbies in defense of unfettered free trade and against tariffs.
As Breitbart’s John Carney notes, Harris’s claim that tariffs are equivalent to a national sales tax hike is false, as research has shown little evidence that tariffs are paid by American consumers but rather foreign importers.
Harris’s attacks on U.S. tariffs also come with a high risk as leading Democrats in Congress such as Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), as well as labor unions and many Democrat voters, support some of Trump’s tariffs that have been left in place by President Joe Biden and want a future president to expand those tariffs.
The United Auto Workers (UAW), for instance, is hoping to get U.S. tariffs increased on foreign cars to protect American auto jobs and wages.
A recent YouGov poll found that almost 6-in-10 Democrat voters want current U.S. tariffs kept in place or increased altogether.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.