1 week Ago By Robert Delaney
Without mentioning the former president by name, Yellen will say in a speech at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York that “untargeted tariffs” would not only drive up domestic inflation, but also set back global security efforts, including those aimed at halting Russia’s war against Ukraine. “Calls for walling America off with high tariffs on friends and competitors alike or by treating even our closest allies as transactional partners are deeply misguided,” Yellen will say, according excerpts of the speech released by her department. “Sweeping, untargeted tariffs would raise prices for American families and make our businesses less competitive.
And we cannot even hope to advance our economic and security interests—such as opposing Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine—if we go it alone.” With early voting already in progress in many US states, and with less than three weeks to go before the presidential election, Trump has stepped up his pledges to use tariffs to lower trade deficits, which the Republican candidate has wielded as a diplomatic and economic tool. He has said the tariffs of up to 25 per cent he slapped on US$300 billion worth of mainland imports, and which largely remain in place, have helped cut America’s trade deficit with China while boosting US job growth – and that increasing them will only amplify this effect.
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