In a move that mirrors 19th-century politics Donald Trump wants to copy Grover Clevelandʼs unique achievement — becoming president twice with a gap between terms However his trade ideas might shock even William McKinley (a well-known supporter of high import fees)
After winning big Trump plans to make import fees the main part of his money plan: he wants new fees on goods tax cuts bigger govt spending and wants to remove Joe Bidens work. The fees could be real-big — from 20% on all countries trading stuff to 60% on China-made items and even up to 200% on some things (like foreign-made farm tools)
The way to put these rules in place isnt simple; there are some old trade laws from 74ʼ that let presidents add fees if other countries dont play fair. Section 301 and 201 give the white-house power to tax imports that hurt US business or safety. While Congress should control trade the president has lots of room to act here
The real reason for these fees is hard to get: Trump says they could replace income-tax but his team says its just to make other countries follow rules. His last big deal with China didnt work-out good — US didnt sell more stuff and China kept using weird money-tricks to sell their goods cheap. Right now US has higher import fees than most countries but our trade numbers still look bad
Europe is already getting ready for whats coming — French people who like US bikes and whiskey might have problems soon. China might make its money cheaper and other countries are trying to get ready for hard times. Even Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron are trying to make nice cause they know whats coming