Former President Donald Trump expressed support for eliminating income taxes and replacing the revenue with tariff receipts.
During a three-hour episode of The Joe Rogan Experience Friday nightThe Republican front-runner criticized companies that move production from the United States to other countries and threatened them with huge tariffs.
He added that the word “tariff” is “more beautiful than” love,” and said that the United States could become rich with the proper use of tariffs.
“Did you just bring up the idea of getting rid of income taxes and replacing them with tariffs?” Rogan asked. “We’re serious about this?”
Trump replied: “Yes, sure, but why not?”
He then repeated his praise of William McKinley, who was president from 1897 until his assassination in 1901, calling him the “King of Tariffs.”
Trump added: “We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers and our families, unless they pay a heavy price.” “The big price is the tariffs.”
this This is not the first time he has hinted at eliminating income taxes. In June, Trump floated the idea that revenue from tariffs could replace federal revenue from income taxes.
During a Fox News segment at a Bronx barbershop on Monday, Trump was asked whether the United States could end all federal taxes, prompting him to praise policies dating back to the late 19th century.
“It had all the tariffs, and no income tax,” he said. “Now we have income taxes, and we have people dying. They pay taxes, and they don’t have the money to pay the tax.”
In addition to extending the tax cuts passed during his presidency, Trump also sparked a slew of tax breaks, including taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security payments, as well as exemptions for the military, veterans, and first responders. .
Such talk has raised concerns among budget watchers, who warn of the growing federal deficit. While it will expand under Trump or Kamala Harris,… Penn Wharton budget model The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said Trump’s policies would create a much deeper divide.
As Wall Street begins to estimate the odds of a Trump victory in November, US bond yields have risen as the Treasury is expected to flood the market with larger auctions to finance the rising deficit and larger debt interest payments.
At the same time, many economists rejected the idea of tariff revenues replacing income tax revenues. Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, He told CNBC Trump’s tariffs would generate an estimated $3.8 trillion in revenue over 10 years, which is just a small fraction of the $33 trillion generated by individual income taxes.
Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs, with big increases on countries like China, would also be largely passed on to American consumers, pushing up prices and potentially stoking inflation, economists said.
As other countries retaliate with tariffs of their own, American exporters will be affected, while a shift away from more expensive imports would weaken the revenue that Trump’s tariffs could generate.