Tipsheet

Trump Gets Positive Feedback After Floating Proposal of Eliminating Income Tax

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  June 13, 2024 10:00 PM

Former President Donald Trump floated the idea of eliminating all income tax and replacing it with imposing tariffs on imports. 

On Thursday, after addressing his Republican colleagues in a closed-door meeting, Trump discussed certain trade policies that once defined his time in office. 

The former president suggested using tariffs as a negotiating tactic with adversaries should he secure the 2024 election. Trump also talked about imposing an “all tariff policy” to better negotiate power which he referred to as “bad actors.” 

While details of the topic were limited, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) said that the former president “Does want to look at lowering the income tax, and that could be offset and paid for by some type of tariffs, particularly on adversarial nations.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt insisted that the 2024 frontrunner’s priority is to make the Trump Tax Cuts permanent.

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“President Trump simply floated the idea as one of many brought up during the conversation, and he has said many times that as tariffs on foreign countries go up, taxes on American workers can come down,” she said. 

The 45th president championed tariffs during his first term since imposing Section 301 punitive duties on China-made goods in 2018. If reelected in November, Trump said he would increase taxes on Chinese imports by 60 percent. 

The increase of taxes on imported goods would result in foreign products to increase in consumer price in order to generate a profit. In return, consumers would be more enticed to purchase American-made products rather than those made in other countries. This would allow the government to reduce income taxes.