NEW DELHI– Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures have effectively acted as a tax on American consumers, driving up inflation without delivering any economic benefit to the United States.
Criticizing what Trump branded as “Liberation Day” tariffs, Gopinath said the results over the past six months have been “negative across the board.”
Trump had proclaimed “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to authorize broad new tariffs on foreign imports, declaring a national emergency over the U.S. trade deficit. He argued that the move would correct decades of “unfair trade barriers” and revive domestic manufacturing.
Gopinath, however, said the data tells a different story. “It is six months since ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs. What have U.S. tariffs accomplished?” she asked in a post on X.
“Raise revenue for the government? Yes, quite substantially. Borne almost entirely by U.S. firms and passed on some to U.S. consumers. So it has worked like a tax on U.S. firms and consumers. Raise inflation? Yes, by small amounts overall—more substantially for household appliances, furniture, and coffee. Improve trade balance? No sign yet of that. Improve U.S. manufacturing? No sign yet of that. Overall, the scorecard is negative,” Gopinath wrote.
She added that the tariffs have had no measurable effect on improving America’s trade balance or manufacturing output, despite the administration’s claims.
India has been among the countries affected by the measures, facing a 25 percent tariff on its exports to the United States in July, followed by another 25 percent penalty on its purchases of Russian crude oil in August.
On September 26, Trump announced an additional 100 percent tariff on branded and patented pharmaceutical products, effective October 1, unless companies relocate production facilities to the United States. (Source: IANS)
