How Tariffs Can Be Used to Support Good-Paying Jobs

By
CTC
– February 3, 2025Posted in: Breaking Issues

Tariffs are a proven tool for supporting quality jobs in the U.S. and for tackling unfair trade practices abroad — but only when applied strategically.  

Here are some key “do”s and “don’t”s.

TO CREATE JOBS…
DO couple tariffs with sound investment, procurement, infrastructure and other industrial policies

DON’T expect tariffs to magically create jobs on their own, and don’t climate existing programs responsible for job creation

X Rather than couple tariff increases with the sound industrial policies needed to create jobs, President Trump is threatening to end existing job-creation programs like the CHIPs Act and Inflation Reduction Act which are responsible for the United States’ biggest boom in new manufacturing plant construction in over thirty years.

TO PROMOTE FAIRNESS…
DO target tariffs to single out bad actors and/or specific unfair behaviors — pressuring them to change that behavior while incentivizing alternative supply chains.

DON’T treat imports from allied nations with strong standards the same as imports made by forced labor, child labor or under other abusive conditions.

X Rather than leveling the playing field for U.S. producers by singling out bad actors with abusive trade practices, President Trump has applied tariffs to all countries, including allies like Canada, which has similar labor and environmental standards to the U.S. and with which the U.S. already has relatively balanced trade in manufactured goods.

TO MINIMIZE CONSUMER COSTS…
DO utilize tariffs within strategic industries, and couple tariffs with protections against corporate price gouging.

DON’T apply tariffs to products the U.S. doesn’t make domestically, and don’t let corporations get away with jacking up prices over and above tariff costs.

X The connection between tariffs and consumer prices is hugely overblown in the media these days, but that doesn’t mean the administration shouldn’t take steps to minimize tariffs’ costs to consumers.  Rather than doing so, President Trump has recklessly applied tariffs to products the U.S. will never produce at scale (like coffee and bananas) and has also refused to use his existing authority to stop corporate price gouging in response to tariff increases. 

TO SUPPORT WORKING FAMILIES…
DO include tariffs as part of a broader plan to promote quality jobs and economic revitalization.DON’T use tariff increases as an excuse to cut taxes for the rich.

X President Trump and his advisors have repeatedly said they plan to use tariff increases as a way to expand tax cuts for the rich.  If recent tariff increases were expected to create jobs in the U.S. and reduce imports, tariff revenue would obviously decrease over time and could not be used to displace existing taxes.

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