Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald J. Trump promised to bring back jobs to the U.S. Trump plans to do this by applying, or at least threatening to use, tariffs on imported goods from China, Mexico, and other countries that have taken U.S. jobs.
Experts have long disagreed on the effectiveness of Trump's tariff plan, including the Ford School’s Alan Deardorff, who spoke with CNN Money’s Patrick Gillespie for a November 11th article. Like other economists, Deardorff is concerned that Trump’s negotiating strategy and rhetoric may lead to a trade war.
“He has talked about doing things that would cause a trade war," says Deardorff, who sees a “heightened probability” of a damaging war in which foreign countries respond to Trump tariffs with tariffs on U.S. goods. Other experts, including several interviewed by Gillespie for CNN Money, agree.
Deardorff previously spoke with Patrick Gillespie for a September 28th story about Trump’s position on NAFTA.
Alan V. Deardorff is the John W. Sweetland Professor of International Economics in the Department of Economics and a professor of public policy at the Ford School; his research focuses on international trade and tariffs.