Yellen warns that sweeping tariffs are ‘deeply misguided’ in swipe at Trump

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Thursday that “deeply misguided” proposals for sweeping tariffs would ramp up inflation and hurt American businesses, offering a clear critique of former President Donald Trump’s economic policy.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Thursday that “deeply misguided” proposals for sweeping tariffs would ramp up inflation and hurt American businesses, offering a clear critique of former President Donald Trump’s economic policy. The warning, delivered during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, comes as economic issues remain a top concern for voters with the election just under three weeks away. Trump has made his call for steep tariffs a key piece of his policy agenda, while Vice President Kamala Harris has warned his tariff plans would raises prices for American families, referring to it as a “Trump tax.” Yellen, who typically refrains from wading into politics and did not mention Trump by name in her speech, argued against across-the-board tariffs and a “go it alone” strategy on the global stage. “Calls for walling America off with high tariffs on friends and competitors alike or by treating even our closest allies as transactional partners are deeply misguided,” Yellen said. “Sweeping, untargeted tariffs would raise prices for American families and make our businesses less competitive.” “And we cannot even hope to advance our economic and security interests — such as opposing Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine — if we go it alone,” she said. “But the issues we face today, from broken supply chains, to climate change and global pandemic preparedness, to China’s industrial overcapacity, also mean we cannot simply draw from an old playbook.” Still, in a question-and-answer session following her remarks, Yellen defended the Biden administration’s decision not to repeal Trump-era tariffs on China, telling the moderator, “I think the main reason for that is that we look to China to address the practices that were emphasized in the [Section] 301 action, which went to issues of unfair competition, and China really did not address any of those issues.”