Tariff Rebate Checks Are a Bad, Inflationary Idea
President Donald Trump and his allies have spent months promising that higher tariffs will usher in a “golden age” of wealth and prosperity for America.
Now, the administration and one of its biggest allies in Congress are pushing for a new round of stimulus checks seemingly aimed at easing the economic pain caused by…yes, those same tariff policies.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) has proposed distributing payments of $600 (or more) to every man, woman, and child in the country via a scheme modeled on the direct payments made during the COVID-19 pandemic. A family of four would receive $2,400, for example, if the household qualified for the full value of the stimulus payments, which would phase out for individuals who earned more than $75,000 and married couples who earned more than $150,000. Larger checks would be distributed if tariff revenue exceeds expectations.
According to Hawley, these checks would “allow hard-working Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump’s tariffs are returning to this country.”
In reality, of course, those hard-working Americans would merely be getting their own money back. The Yale Budget Lab estimates that the tariffs Trump has imposed this year will cost the average American household about $2,400 annually in the form of higher prices—on everything from new cars to Arizona iced tea.
The proposal to send out tariff-funded stimulus checks
Article from Reason.com
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