So much for reports by April 1, and a deliberative process --...
Brad Setser@Brad_Setser
99 views
Feb 02, 2025
~1 min read
Advertisement
1
So much for reports by April 1, and a deliberative process --
President Trump is a true believer "“The tariffs are going to make us very rich and very strong" --
1/
President Trump is a true believer "“The tariffs are going to make us very rich and very strong" --
1/
2
Pharmaceutical imports, especially from low tax jurisdictions, have exploded recently -- they are up about 3x after Trump's tax cuts created a lower de facto tax rate (GILTI, at 10.5%) on offshore than onshore production
2/
2/
3
Tariffing imported chips (components for US production) but not imported final goods with embedded chips would normally be viewed as a self defeating move -- most chips aren't imported as "chips" but as components of electronics/ autos ...
3/
3/
4
Maybe there is something sophisticated behind these moves -- but right now they seem likely to show the limits of using tariffs as all all purpose tool for economic and foreign policy ...
4/
wsj.com/politics/elect…
4/
4/
wsj.com/politics/elect…
4/
5
love how the kink in the curve on pharma imports is right at the end of 2017, when the TCJA passed --
One of my better calls was saying from the start that it would increase not reduce the incentive to offshore production
5/5
One of my better calls was saying from the start that it would increase not reduce the incentive to offshore production
5/5