Agreeing with Harris, Deardorf insists Trump's tariffs will cost consumers | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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Agreeing with Harris, Deardorf insists Trump's tariffs will cost consumers

October 21, 2024 NBC News
Alan Deardorff
Alan Deardorff

Amid the 2024 presidential election, the Ford School's Alan Deardorf has raised concerns regarding former President Donald Trump's plan for tariffs if reelected. Deardorf agreed with Vice-President Kalama Harris's claim stating "She’s right that his tariffs are like a sales tax, in the sense that consumers everywhere are going to end up paying." In response to arguments made by economists that foreign producers would lower prices when tariffs increased in 2018 under Trump, Deardorf mentioned "you can’t find anything in the data indicating that the foreign prices went down."

Alan Deardorff portrait

Faculty Expert

Alan V. Deardorff

Professor Emeritus of Public Policy
Deardorff’s 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. He 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.