Title: For Americans, Trump's tariffs on imports could be costly | Fox News
Headings: For Americans, Trump's tariffs on imports could be costly
For Americans, Trump's tariffs on imports could be costly
Content: They have had a disreputable image since the United States' Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 disrupted trade during the Great Depression. Economist Barry Eichengreen of the University of California, Berkeley, has argued that tariffs aren't necessarily flawed policy. At times when inflation is too low — as it's been in the United States and Europe since the Great Recession began in 2007 — tariffs can raise prices and encourage consumers to spend to avoid paying more later. Such spending helps drive economic growth. Higher inflation can also make it easier for consumers and businesses to repay loans. Still, even Eichengreen cautions that there are more effective ways than tariffs to lift prices — notably old-fashioned stimulus through tax cuts and stepped-up government spending, both of which Trump is also proposing. Many analysts say the United States should also develop more efficient ways to help American workers who lose jobs to foreign competition — in part through expanded training programs — rather than punishing foreign competitors. Tariff disputes can take unexpected turns. In 2009, the Obama administration imposed tariffs on tires from China, charging that a surge in Chinese imports was hurting American tire makers. Beijing fired back by imposing a tax of up to 105 percent on U.S. chicken feet — a throwaway item in the United States that's considered a delicacy in China.