WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris called former President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals “a sales tax on the American people” in an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle.
President Joe Biden has also supported certain tariffs and has done little to roll back tariffs imposed by Trump when he was president, but Harris stressed that the tariffs should not apply to all imports — something Trump has said he would do if he returned to the White House.
“You don’t just throw the idea of tariffs around the world, and that’s part of the problem with Donald Trump,” Harris said.
“In all honesty, he’s not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues,” she said. “And one must be serious, one must have a plan and a real plan, which is not just some talking point at a political rally, but actually thinking about what the return on investment will be, what will happen. economic impact on everyday people.”
During the discussions this month Trump said it will impose a 10% tariff on all imported goods and a 60% tariff on goods from China.
Trump said during the debate: “Other countries will finally repay us after 75 years for what we have done for the world, and the tariffs will be significant.”
The questions came during Harris’ first one-on-one interview with a national network since becoming the Democratic nominee. Trump criticized him for not doing more sit-down interviews.
Harris said in an interview that corporate taxes would need to be raised to fund some of his policies to address child care and housing affordability.
“We’re going to have to raise corporate taxes,” he said.
“We need to make sure the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share,” he said. “It’s just that. It’s about paying their fair share.”
His comments came in response to a question about how he would find the money to finance his proposals if he fails to raise corporate taxes or Republicans take control of the Senate.
Harris suggested expanding the child tax credit, creating a tax break for homebuilders and providing subsidies to first-time homeowners.
The Trump campaign responded to Harris’ interview by criticizing the economic performance of the Biden administration.
The interview came shortly after a campaign event in Pittsburgh where Harris outlined his economic priorities.