ARGUING YES
Scott Paul
President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing
ARGUING YES
Stephen Moore
Former Senior Economic Advisor to President Trump; Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation; Co-founder of Unleash Prosperity
ARGUING NO
Jennifer Hillman
Senior Fellow for Trade and International Political Economy at the Council on Foreign Relations
ARGUING NO
Rana Mitter
ST Lee Chair in U.S.-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School
MODERATOR
Host and Moderator-in-Chief
This week:
- New episode: Will new tariffs be a boon or liability for the American economy?
- Join us for a livestreamed debate about Elon Musk and DOGE on X this Tuesday
- Your Sunday reading list
Making national and international headlines, President Trump has hit all Chinese imports with an extra 10% tariff. The move, delivered via executive order, fulfills a key campaign promise and targets drug trafficking and trade imbalances. But will these tariffs help the U.S. and how might they impact the global economy?
This isn’t Trump’s first tariff salvo. In 2018, he imposed a 10% duty on Chinese goods and later expanded it to steel and aluminum. Supporters say tariffs protect U.S. manufacturers and force China to play fair. But critics warn they come at a steep cost — higher prices for consumers, potential job losses in industries that rely on Chinese imports, and economic retaliation from Beijing.
So, was Trump right? Will these tariffs level the playing field with China, or will they leave American businesses and consumers paying the price? In partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations, we asked live in Washington, D.C.: Was Trump Right to Increase Tariffs on Chinese Imports?
Listen to this debate now on your favorite podcast platform , YouTube, and our website. As always, let us know what you think.
POINT/COUNTERPOINT
Was Trump Right to Increase Tariffs on Chinese Imports?
YES: Stephen Moore
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that we have open and free trade with China. I think we have to have restrictions. I think Trump’s tariffs make a lot of sense, not so much economically, but as a matter of America’s national security. They lie, they cheat, they steal. They don’t play by the rules. Their tariffs are much higher than ours are, and for all these reasons, Trump is absolutely right to impose tariffs on China.”
NO: Jennifer Hillman
“The U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to impose the tariffs, but the president has used an international emergency to put these tariffs on in a way that has never been done and is not consistent with the Constitution. The illegality hurts because it tells all of our trading partners you can’t trust America.”
YES: Scott Paul
“The last round of tariffs that went into place during the first Trump administration; during that period of time, we’ve seen manufacturing jobs grow. In the United States, we’ve seen the trade deficit come down… I do know many manufacturers who are excited to have a level playing field after years of having intellectual property theft, labor and environmental violations… Going to the WTO is a fool’s errand, and I think everybody agrees with that in the trade establishment who has been fighting back against China all these years.”
NO: Rana Mitter
“[Tariffs] are not a policy that will get the United States and its many allies to the place where they need to be, which is peaceful, prosperous, and one in which it can engage with China in terms of interaction without having to be worried or terrified about China being in the world. The United States and China will both be there for a very long time to come, and we have to work out a way in which that can happen without the use of tactics that simply can’t be predicted.”
Is Musk’s DOGE Dodging the Law? Join Our X Livestream Debate on March 4
In the weeks since President Trump returned to office, Elon Musk and his position as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have taken on a contentious role. Are the department’s actions legal? Join us for an exclusive livestreamed debate on X this Tuesday, March 4 at 2:30 PM as we debate: Is Musk’s DOGE Dodging the Law?
Arguing YES: Laurence Tribe, University Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School
Arguing NO: Michael W. McConnell, Former Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; Law Professor and Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School
John Donvan, Emmy Award-winning journalist, will moderate.
Follow us on X at @opentodebateorg to be notified when the debate goes live.
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