Trump's Policy Would Make Inflation Worse - Not Better

 One of the biggest campaign promises for Trump and the Republicans is to lower inflation. They blame President Biden for inflation - even though the inflation rate has steadily dropped during his administration.

They claim the inflation is caused by the large national debt. They didn't believe that when they raised the national debt more than any other presidential administration by giving the rich (and corporations) a massive tax break and they were right in the past - the national debt has nothing to do with inflation. Inflation rises and falls in spite of how large the debt happens to be.

Inflation has two basic causes. The first is the cost of production. The second is corporate greed. 

The crazy thing is that while Republicans claim they will magically reduce inflation, their favorite presidential candidate (Donald Trump) has already announced he will pursue a policy that would actually raise inflation.

He has said if elected, he will impose a 10% tariff on China. He imposed one on China during his first term, and then extended it to many other countries. He will likely do the same in a second term.

The problem with a tariff is that it is not paid by the exporting country. It is paid by the importer - and then passed on to consumers by raising prices. In other words, it is a tax on American consumers - and 10% is a rather large rise in prices.

Most of the inflation consumers are unhappiest about is the price of groceries. But what many of them don't realize is that much of the food in grocery stores is imported. About 15% of the U.S. food supply is imported - including 40% of fresh vegetables and 60% of fresh fruits.

A 10% tariff on imports would definitely cause inflation in the price of groceries.

The Republicans like to whine about inflation and blame others. Don't believe them. They have no cure for it. And their favorite presidential candidate would pursue a policy to make it worse.