Trump Says Tariffs Could Replace Modern-Day System of Income Tax, Ease Financial Burden on Americans

During his yearly State of the Union speech, Donald Trump defended the large tariffs he placed on other countries. He said that countries that had taken advantage of the United States for years are now paying billions of dollars because of these tariffs. The Republican president had made a claim at the start of his second term, stating the tariff will replace the modern-day system of income tax.

The president said, “As time goes by, I believe that tariffs, paid for by foreign countries, will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.”

According to the US president, he was able to solve wars and get countries to agree to their deals because of the threat of tariffs. As per his belief, these tariffs help save the US money and protect its interests. Many of the wars he was able to settle were because of the threat of tariffs. He thinks the new legal rules for tariffs are strong, tested, and don’t need Congress to approve them. He also believes tariffs will help Americans financially.

After six months, when Trump returned to the White House, he used America’s economic power to punish countries that disagreed with accepting one-sided trade deals and extract huge concessions from the ones that did. On April 02, Trump announced high tax rates on imports, i.e., up to 50% on countries with which the US had trade deficits and 10% on most other countries. He addressed this trade deficit as a national emergency under the 1977 law.

When this announcement led to anger among countries, he paused the high taxes for 90 days, giving countries time to negotiate. After a deep discussion, some countries agreed to accept the deals, and some disagreed. Those who refused to accept were hit with higher tariffs.

Recently, the US Supreme Court made a 6-3 decision that was a big loss for Trump on one of his economic plans. Angry about this, Trump quickly signed a new order for 15% tariffs on imports worldwide. These new tariffs will last for 150 days and start almost immediately.