Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that former President Donald Trump’s idea to replace federal income taxes with tariffs would “make life harder.”
A partial transcript follows:
Carl: Right. Just to be clear, inflation is coming down, but overall inflation is up 19 percent since President Biden took office. Prices for everyday items are higher. Egg prices are up 84 percent since President Biden took office. Ground beef is up 30 percent, bread is up 27 percent. So overall inflation may be coming down, but those prices are not going back up to where they were before. So those prices are going to stay high?
Yellen: Yes, price levels have risen substantially over the last three years or so. They’re now rising at a very slow, almost normal pace. But certainly the American people are aware of it, and they’re primarily adding to the concern about costs that have made life very difficult. So the Biden administration absolutely wants to address this issue.
Of course, wages have also been rising during this time, and I want to point out that government surveys show that wages have risen somewhat more than prices for all households — households at all levels of the income distribution.
Carl: Secretary, all I can say is…
Yellen: So the typical American is somewhat better off.
Carl: I only have about 10 seconds left, so I just wanted to ask you something quick: Donald Trump has floated the idea of replacing all federal income taxes with high tariffs. Do you think that’s even remotely feasible?
Yellen: Tariffs well above 100% would be necessary.
Carl: Okay…
Yellen: The impact is that it will make life harder for working-class Americans…
Carl: Okay, thank you…
Yellen: …and it will hurt American businesses.
KARL: Thank you, Secretary Yellen. I really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
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