(Reuters) – Economic policies proposed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would fuel inflation and hurt businesses, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to warn in a speech, according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday.
Yellen’s criticism is expected to be made in remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations and while she is not expected to mention Trump by name, she will argue that the broad tariffs imposed by the former US president and some Republicans in Congress support would harm the US economy. The New York Times writes this, citing Yellen’s speech that the newspaper has obtained.
“Sweeping, untargeted tariffs would raise prices for American families and make our businesses less competitive,” Yellen said.
Trump has made tariffs and tax cuts key elements of his economic pitch to voters, a majority of whom see the economy as the biggest campaign issue of the 2024 presidential election.
Trump defended his trade policies and other budget proposals Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait.
He claimed that his trade policy — which calls for expensive tariffs on goods not only from rivals like China but also from allies like the European Union — would revive U.S. manufacturing and raise enough revenue to offset concerns about an explosion of the budget deficit.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter)
