Are tariffs good for the economy, or a bad thing? An audience at UW-La Crosse heard mixed opinions on the need for tariffs, during a panel discussion on Wednesday at Centennial Hall.
Associate professor Sheida Teimouri is chair of the economics department at UWL, and was an organizer of the event. She says the program presented just before spring break was organized quickly, while Washington is busy debating tariffs on other countries.
“I think that the consensus among economists is that tariffs are bad,” said Teimouri, “and I think our students, a lot of them were hearing that, and they were kinda confused, that if they are so bad, if everybody thinks they’re so bad, then why are they doing it?”
Among the opinions expressed by the five people on the university panel…tariffs don’t do magic, it’s not possible to replace tariffs entirely, and it’s generally poor countries that use tariffs a lot.
Economics researcher Nick McFaden argues that increasing tariffs would not be a good substitute for the current tax system. “In one year, the income tax generates about as much as the tariffs are expected to generate in 10 years. You cannot squeeze $2.1 trillion in revenue out of $3.5 trillion out of imports. It’s just not possible,” said McFaden.
Panelists also noted that U.S. stock prices fell about 10 per cent in two days, after recent tariffs were announced, and argued that new tariffs were in effect the biggest tax hike in peacetime since the 1980’s in the U.S.