It’s been reported Donald Trump recently floated the idea of replacing the federal income tax with an increase of tariffs on imported goods. I guess he’s hoping voters tired of paying taxes would jump at the idea. Not necessarily following through any further, even the possibility of the concept exemplifies Trump’s impaired thought process.
The problem lies in the implementation. In Trump’s scheming, highly amplified tariffs would be instituted to pay for the cost of the U.S. government now covered by the federal income tax. It’s been estimated an average tariff rate of nearly 85% on all current imports would be required to replace the revenue produced by the income tax; thus, causing tariff trade retaliations leading to widespread economic disruption and revenue instability.
Not only would foreign countries strike back, but who’s to say foreign businesses would even be willing to pay such high tariffs to America? What if …