Especially when you hear words like “tariffs.”But, given the economy’s central importance in the 2024 race, it’s worth hammering on an Econ 101 fact: Tariffs are a tax on Americans. Very simply: When the US government decides to put a tariff (read: tax) on, say, Chinese goods, the actual money going to the US Treasury comes from the American company doing the importing. “To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff,” Trump said at one point. But it’s important to judge Trump’s first-term trade policies and the Biden-Harris approach against context of the unprecedented tariff wave Trump is planning if he gets to Round Two. Bottom line: Tariffs might be a beautiful word to Trump’s ear, but he’s telling a fictional story about what they do in practice.

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Persons: CNN Business ’, New York CNN —, Donald Trump, It’s, —, Annette Choi, Katie Lobosco, podcaster Sean Kelly, David Pakman, Kelly, he’s, ” Kelly, Pakman, “, Trump, ” Trump, John Micklethwait, Micklethwait, it’s, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Trump’s, Harris, ”, Scott Lincicome, United States —, ” David Kelly, Matt Egan Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, CNN, US Treasury, Bloomberg, Economic, of Chicago, Biden, Trump, Republican, Cato Institute, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Federal, Peterson Institute, Asset Management Locations: New York, China, United States, States