Trump says he’s ‘can’t guarantee’ tariffs won’t hurt Americans

Donald Trump can’t promise the sweeping set of tariffs he has threatened to impose on the nation’s major trading partners won’t hike consumer prices.

During an interview on Sunday with NBC News, anchor Kristen Welker asked the president-elect about the widespread economic consensus that his plans to tariff China, Mexico, and Canada risk triggering inflation and raising prices.

“I can’t guarantee anything,” Trump said. “I can’t guarantee tomorrow.”

But Trump noted that he doesn’t “believe” the warning by economists that tariffs will hurt Americans.

The Republican president-elect went on to claim there was no inflation during his administration, which is not true, and also insisted that tariffs are giong to “make us rich.”

Trump rattled global politics last month with a threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on China as part of his purported push to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.

The three nations represent America’s three top trading partners, and could impact everything from the oil trade to auto manufacturing, as numerous American firms have suppliers and factories in Mexico.

The policy proposal prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make a sudden trip to Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump in late November.

Trump has described tariffs on China as money that China pays “directly” to the “U.S. Treasury,” and assured voters during his campaign that tariffs are a “tax on another country,” not a tax on them. In fact tariffs are paid by importers in America, including retailers like Target, which often pass on the increased costs to their consumers.

A Wall Street Journal poll of 39 economists found the vast majority oppose Trump’s tariff plans, while an open letter from 16 Nobel prize-winning economists warned his plans would have a “destabilizing effect” on the country’s domestic economy and negatively impact its world standing.

“They will create all sorts of weird unintended effects. No big problem currently facing US working families is really addressed,” Dr. Josh Bivens, a chief conomist and senior researcher with the Economic Policy Institute, previously told The Independent.

“If they’re all undertaken, it is a near guarantee that the result would be higher interest rates and higher inflation,” he added, referring to the tariff plans as well as Trump’s promises to cut taxes.