This Time, Team Trump Wants Tariffs

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

60% : Despite a great cacophony from doomsaying economists, Trump seems determined to realize his first administration's promise of a revolution in U.S. trade policy.
58% : Unlike before, Trump may very well have a growing circle of influential advisors and donors who share his vision for fair trade and reindustrialization.To evaluate the prospects for trade policy in a putative second Trump administration, we first must consider what transpired during Trump's presidency.
57% : In his speeches and policy proposals, Trump has made it clear that, if elected, he wants to bring a quick and decisive end to the free-trade era in American economic history.
55% : To have "one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street," as Trump calls Bessent, endorse his trade agenda undoubtedly strengthens Trump's resolve.
51% : This also extends to the people around Trump -- his most trusted donors, informal advisors, etc. -- who shape his priorities even if they are not appointees.
50% : Trump now has a pool of advisors and officials committed to enacting his economically nationalist policies.
50% : As Trump lavishes praise on Bessent and the once-private investor talks to the press, one might expect that he will play a role in the next administration.
45% : Perhaps because of these setbacks, Trump has redoubled his commitment to a tough trade policy on the 2024 campaign trail.
42% : Internal ideological resistance is a major problem, but Trump may have the political momentum and human capital to overcome it.
41% : During that critical period, Congress failed to take up Trump's infrastructure proposals, ignored his call for anti-offshoring legislation, and instead approved a package of tax cuts with some merit but little to direct new growth towards fixed capital investment in manufacturing.
39% : Trump has no shortage of committed free-traders among his closest advisers, namely Larry Kudlow, Kevin Hassett, the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, whom Trump has publicly suggested as a potential Treasury Secretary.
35% : Yet, during his presidency, Trump struggled to enact economic nationalist policies, which conflicted with the entrenched economic views of his advisers, donors, and staff.
35% : As Trump makes trade protection a centerpiece of his 2024 platform, an uncomfortable question still lingers: Will his administration follow through?
28% : The greatest risk is that these advisors will amplify the media's already alarmist rhetoric about protective tariffs to persuade Trump to weaken or drop his pledged package.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.