Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen predicted on Tuesday’s “PBS News Hour” that President Joe Biden’s tariffs would not cause meaningful price increases for households, saying President Trump’s tariffs would be “a tax on consumers.” In response to a question about criticism that President Biden’s tariffs are Tariffs are different because they are “target groups in strategic areas that have developed substantial over-reliance on China.”
“I don’t think anything will happen here that will be noticeable to the typical American family,” Yellen said of the Biden tariff plan. These tariff increases are primarily intended to protect companies and workers supported by incentives, tax incentives, and other incentives under the Semiconductor/CHIPS Act and the Inflation Control Act. These are areas where American companies are ramping up production and are highly competitive, but they face an uneven playing field. ”
Co-host Amna Nawaz said, “Mr. Secretary, your views on this have evolved. It was in July 2021 that you were asked about the Trump administration-era tariffs on China. Said, “Tariffs are taxes on consumers. In some cases, it seems like what we did hurt American consumers.’ So what’s changed then and now?”
Yellen responded: “What we are talking about here is a group of targeted strategic sectors that have developed substantial over-reliance on China. There are vulnerabilities in our supply chains. We have made it a national priority to diversify our supply chains so that we do not experience the same kinds of shortages that occurred during the pandemic, and these are sectors that are at the core of our modern economy. ”
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