President Donald Trump seems to expect Americans to take his word for it that his tariffs plan will work out well for them.
Trump on Thursday announced he was imposing reciprocal tariffs on trade partners, a plan that could easily backfire and drive up prices for American consumers.
The president was asked during a press conference if he would direct agencies to study the impact these tariffs would have on prices in the US.
“No, there’s nothing to study,” Trump replied. “It’s gonna go well.”
“The United States is going to become a very very strong economic, economically, country,” he added.
It was reminiscent of his repeated claims in 2020 that Covid-19 was just “going to go away.”
A clip of Thursday’s moment posted on X was viewed more than a million times and attracted substantial backlash.
“This exchange is going to slip by and go undercovered but this is a very revealing moment,” the Tennessee Holler, a progressive news site, said of the comment on X.
“Trump’s government won’t study anything, they will just tell us everything is going great no matter who gets hurt. ‘1984’ is upon us.”
Tahra Jirari, the director of economic analysis at the Chamber of Progress tech industry coalition, had a more blunt take:
Trump argues that tariffs are a way for the country to push back against top trade partners that he claims are ripping the US off “with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS.”
Earlier this month, he announced that he would impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on those from China, prompting those countries to declare retaliatory tariffs.
The tariffs against the two US neighbours are on pause for 30 days amid negotiations and could take effect in March.
Thursday’s announcement applies more broadly to other countries globally. He said his advisers would come up with new tariff levels for trade partners based on the taxes and levies they charge, which he deems unfair.
Economists worry the plan could worsen inflation and set off a costly trade war.
Trump’s lack of interest in looking into the plan’s potential impact was not received well on social media.