President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to impose major tariffs on all U.S. imports and 60% on goods from China has the backing of many Republicans, and just one Democrat: Maine Rep. Jared Golden.
And Golden is criticizing his party for not getting behind the push.
"It wasn't that long ago that I thought the Democratic Party was literally the party of protection and economic policies, tariffs, against free trade deals, and pro-union," Golden, 42, told The Washington Post in a recent interview.
"Why are [Democrats] ceding our ground to [Trump]? This is ours, or it should be, and if it isn’t anymore, then I would suggest the party’s wrong."
Trump on Tuesday announced plans to create a new agency called the External Revenue Service to collect tariffs and other revenues from foreign nations.
Economists have said the cost of the tariffs will be passed on to consumers, and are generally skeptical of them, considering them a mostly inefficient way for governments to raise money and promote prosperity.
"This is going to raise prices — there’s no two ways about it. Why on Earth Democrats would think it’s a clever political strategy to support higher prices — you got me, maybe that sells in Maine, but nowhere I’ve been recently," Dean Baker, an economist at the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, told the Post.
Still, Golden says tariffs that shield domestic production should be considered.
"I guess the argument I’m trying to put forward here is that we have become the victim of our own political spin about free trade," Golden said. "Maybe it’s time to start questioning the entire model."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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