The Trump administration may be trying to use tariffs as a tool in trade negotiations, but it could end up ultimately hurting the United States, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist warned on Friday.
President Donald Trump‘s latest move came on Thursday, when the White House announced it was implementing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
“It is a dangerous tool to use because you’re not in control of how a trade war goes. You may have thought you hit someone on the side of their head to get their attention, they may decide to hit you back in the knee,” said Norquist, the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform.
That can already be seen by the responses from the U.S. allies on Thursday. The European Union listed hundreds of U.S. products that would now be subject to tariffs, including peanut butter and motorcycles. Mexico said it would penalize U.S. imports such as apples, grapes and cheeses. Meanwhile, Canada said it would respond with “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs against U.S. steel and aluminum exports.
In an interview with CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Norquist said, “When you engage in this kind of trade negotiation … [which] looks a war sometimes, you can end up getting hurt.”
“The challenge is there’s so much good economic news that this damage may not show up right away,” he added.
Trump has promised to crack down on what he calls unfair trade practices, which he says harms American companies and workers.
Norquist said he supports the goal of removing trade barriers.
“We want open trade. We want to be able to sell into China, into Japan, into Europe without regulatory barriers and without tariff barriers,” he said.
However, “when you throw up tariffs, which are taxes on the American people, we’re not hurting French people … we’re hurting Americans.”
