“Promise Kept” on Trump tariff threat - Deardorff

July 20, 2020

Alan Deardorff, Ford School professor and one of the world’s leading experts on international trade policy, was referenced in a Politifact “Trump-O-Meter” fact-check of Trump Administration policy promises.  

The stated policy: “Any country that devalues their currency to take unfair advantage of the United States and all of its companies that can’t compete will face tariffs and taxes to stop the cheating.”

"The 'Phase 1' trade deal with China hardly lowered any tariffs against China, and mainly just stopped him from a further threatened increase," said Deardorff. 

After the deal, average U.S. tariffs on imports from China remained more than six times higher than they were before the trade war started in 2018, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonprofit research organization.

"Meanwhile, the tariffs Trump applied to steel and aluminum from many countries continue to be in place," Deardorff said.

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Alan V. Deardorff is the John W. Sweetland Professor of International Economics and a professor of public policy. His research focuses on international trade. With Bob Stern, he developed the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade, which has been used to estimate the effects of trade agreements. Deardorff is also doing theoretical work in international trade and trade policy. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Labor, State, and Treasury and to international organizations including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank. Alan received his PhD from Cornell University.