‘I Never Met A Tax Cut I Didn’t Like’: Kudlow Examines Possible Benefits And Pitfalls Of Trump Tariffs

Fox Business host Larry Kudlow said Wednesday that the reciprocal tariffs announced by President Donald Trump could put America on a “path to economic prosperity.”

Trump, during a Rose Garden event on Wednesday, announced reciprocal tariffs to address import duties and “horrendous imbalances” in trade. Kudlow said that the “fair-minded and common-sense” approach could also lead to additional “tax cuts.” (RELATED: ‘We Are Ecstatic’: Union Boss Who Backed Harris Says He’s Thrilled With One Major Trump Policy)

“Trump’s tariffs could be the path to economic prosperity and might be used for more tax cuts. That’s the subject of the riff,” Kudlow said. “President Trump gave a vigorous defense of his reciprocal trade policy, saying basically that America will no longer tolerate all of the tariffs and non-tariff barriers constructed by China, the EU and many other countries that have prevented American manufacturers to export their goods to those countries.”

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“So, he is raising the price of foreign imports to the U.S. by imposing these reciprocal tariff charges on the biggest offenders, along with the 10% baseline tariff on everybody,” Kudlow said. “During his speech in the White House Rose Garden, he showed everyone a chart of all the tariff charges imposed on American exports. There you see it on the screen. Charges that have essentially been blocking our exports and charges that have, in the main, done great damage to U.S. manufacturers, automakers, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and plenty of other goods.”

The disparities in the tariffs by multiple countries included duties on everything from apples to automobiles, according to a White House fact sheet, which also detailed non-tariff barriers that American products face from foreign countries.

“Now, he said he’s willing to do business with all these foreign countries. He will negotiate. He’s a master at it,” Kudlow said. “So, if they drop their charges on the U.S., the president would drop his charges on them. This seems fair-minded and common sense. I thought his chart of all the tariff and tariff-related barriers imposed on American exporters was particularly effective in selling this to the American public.”

As Kudlow reported, “however, in after-hours trading, the U.S. stock market seems to disagree, falling by 1100 points as of this report.”

Trump received overwhelming support in electronic and phone surveys of the rank-and-file members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2024 over his positions on trade and support for tariffs.

Kudlow said that the tariffs could bring in $600 billion a year of revenue into the treasury. (RELATED: CNN Panel Erupts When Scott Jennings Explains How Trump Used Tariffs Attempting To Bring Mexico, Canada In Line)

“This would be a tremendous boon to all Americans, to business and to the goal of a 4% economic growth rate if we cut tax rates across the board,” Kudlow said. “Individual income tax cuts, corporate tax cuts, even cutting the Social Security payroll tax. And, by the way, these kinds of additional tax cuts on top of the Trump tax cuts already out there would help, I think, to ease the way or soothe the way towards any short-term damage from the initial effects of the tariffs. So how about that? Lots of revenues coming in if all this goes through.”

“Let’s cut tax rates with those revenues,” Kudlow said. “Just saying. You know me. I never met a tax cut I didn’t like.”

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