Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has warned that President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed economic policies could cause US inflation to rise further.
In an on-air interview rosemary burton live today, Summers, who served in former US President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet from 1999 to 2001, spoke about the possible impact of President Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico. .
“I think the more tariffs we put on the United States, the more inflation we’re going to get,” Summers told CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
“And the lesson of the last election is that voters really hate inflationary price increases.”
On Monday, President Trump will impose a 25% tariff on all products imported into the United States from Canada and Mexico on January 20, 2025, unless Canada and Mexico curb the flow of drugs and illegal immigration across the border. he threatened.
“These tariffs will remain in effect until we stop drugs, especially fentanyl, and all illegal aliens from invading our country!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
President Trump also vowed to impose an additional 10% tariff on goods entering the United States from China until China cracks down on fentanyl smuggling.
Summers said he was surprised by President Trump’s comments.
“I didn’t know there was a big problem with immigrants coming into the country illegally from Canada,” he said.
“It is inconceivable that your government would not be willing to cooperate with our government in any way possible on issues related to fentanyl, so I was surprised by the frontal and adversarial nature of our president’s approach. ” [elect] was following. ”
“Inefficient global economy”
Summers also served as director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010 under former U.S. President Barack Obama. He said President Trump’s tariffs, if implemented, would hurt Canada’s economy along with many others.
“That’s not good for Canada, which is the original source of goods exported to the United States,” Summers said. “That’s not good for Canada as a producer, receiving imports, processing them and producing finished products.
“I think the end result will be a significant disruption of trade flows around the world and a reduction in the efficiency of the global economy.”
Imported by the US in 2022 Cdn 614.3 billion worth of goods from Canadaaccording to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. According to recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. $435 billion in Canadian products From January to September of this year.
Some of those items end up at Debbie Cavourias’ hardware store in New York.
Cavourias imports aluminum and wood from Canada, cleaning products from Mexico and several other products from China. She said at least 70% of the total products are imported.
Cabrias said he is concerned about the impact of President Trump’s tariff proposals on his business.
“My concern is that we may have to reduce inventory or that inventory may become unavailable and some of our suppliers may not be importing as much as they normally would,” she said.
“We’ll have to go through [the tariff] You can also help your customers to some extent. ”
Mr. Summers is advising the Canadian government on how to deal with these tariff threats.
“Canada has always been a voice of decency in the world system, whether it’s in the provision of foreign aid or in terms of global public goods,” he said.
“Therefore, I hope that Canada remains committed not only to our alliance with the United States, but also to our enduring principles.”
