Trump Tariffs: Tracking the Economic Impact of the Trump Trade War
The Trump tariffs amount to an average tax increase per US household of $1,200 in 2025 and $1,600 in 2026.
45 min read
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Trump Pharma Tariffs Would Raise Drug Prices for Americans
President Trump has recently floated the idea of imposing tariffs of up to 250 percent on pharmaceuticals, with the intention of shifting pharmaceutical production to the US. These tariffs would not only drive drug prices higher but could also lead to shortages and reduce long-run drug innovation.
3 min read
Balls and Strikes on American Manufacturing: What Are the Facts?
Catastrophic rhetoric about US manufacturing is not justified. The tariffs are extremely counterproductive. Still, all is not well in the US manufacturing sector. What should we do?
7 min read
Corporate Tax Rates Around the World, 2024
The worldwide average statutory corporate tax rate has consistently decreased since 1980 but has leveled off in recent years. In the US, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act brought the country’s statutory corporate income tax rate from the fourth highest in the world closer to the middle of the distribution.
18 min read
Out-Competing China Starts With The Tax Code
Tariffs are almost always the main issue connecting the tax reform debate with strategic competition with China. However, some provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) should get some of that attention, especially the 100 percent bonus depreciation and the research and development (R&D) amortization.
How Will Trump’s Universal and China Tariffs Impact the Economy?
President-elect Trump may want to impose tariffs to encourage investment and work, but his strategy will backfire. Tariffs will certainly create benefits for protected industries, but those benefits come at the expense of consumers and other industries throughout the economy.
5 min read
What Sets the US and China Apart on Tax?
Broad, pro-investment tax policy matters for growth, and the US has plenty of opportunities to make improvements, particularly given the advantages our cross-Pacific rival confers on its firms.
5 min read
Can US Tax Reforms Keep Up with China?
How does tax policy shape a nation’s competitiveness? Today, we’re diving into the showdown between the US and China, exploring how China’s enticing tax incentives pose a formidable challenge to America’s economic supremacy.
Leveraging Tax Policy to Bolster US Economic Growth Amid Competition with China
Restoring expensing for R&D, machinery, and equipment; extending better cost recovery to structures investment; and avoiding raising the corporate tax rate would create a stronger, pro-investment policy environment for the US economy.
44 min read
How Does the IRA’s Book Minimum Tax Affect 5G Competition?
A higher tax burden for private infrastructure investments like wireless spectrum, 5G technology, and machinery and equipment makes an existing problem worse—especially against the backdrop of outright state subsidies in countries like China.
6 min read
White House Right on Importance of Business Investment, Wrong on Relevant Policy
The Treasury Department recently touted strong business investment in the years following the pandemic-driven recession and pointed to the Biden administration’s industrial policies in the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act as key drivers.
7 min read
So-Called Strategic Tariffs Are Still Tariffs—and Still Protectionist
Calling the latest round of tariffs “strategic” does not change the underlying reality: these policies are just another form of protectionism, and therefore, subject to all the same economic problems.
4 min read
Digital Taxation around the World
The outcome of the digital tax debate will likely shape domestic and international taxation for decades to come. Designing these policies based on sound principles will be essential in ensuring they can withstand challenges arising in the rapidly changing economic and technological environment of the 21st century.
58 min read
Americans Are Still Paying for the Trump-Biden Tariffs
If reelected, President Trump would drastically escalate the trade war he started during his first term. But what often goes unnoticed is President Biden’s role in continuing Trump’s first trade war. In fact, more tax revenue from the trade war tariffs has been collected under Biden than under Trump.
5 min read
U.S. Must Fix R&D Treatment to Compete with China
Though providing permanent R&D expensing alone would not be a China-competition magic bullet, it is a no-brainer place to start. In this technological race, we should first make sure we have not tied our own shoes together.
4 min read
Tax Foundation Discussion on the Harms of Retaliatory Tax and Trade Policies
Historical evidence and recent studies have shown that retaliatory tax and trade proposals raise prices and reduce the quantity of goods and services available to U.S. businesses and consumers, resulting in lower incomes, reduced employment, and lower economic output.
5 min read
Tariff of Abominations Redux: Trump Proposes 60% Tariff on Chinese Goods
The Trump campaign is mulling a massive tax increase on American purchases from China. If reelected, he might quintuple the tax, imposing tariffs of 60 percent on imports from China. The economic ramifications would be significant and unwelcome.
5 min read
JCT Report Shows How Corporate Tax Breaks Have Expanded
Lawmakers should prioritize creating a tax system that supports investment more broadly rather than subsidizing specific industries and allowing broad, neutral pro-investment provisions to expire.
3 min read
Prohibition by Price
Step into the shadows of illicit trade where taxation, incentives, and criminal networks intersect to fuel the lucrative cigarette smuggling market.
Taxes and Illicit Trade
Taxation plays a key role in driving illicit trade. People respond to incentives, and sizable price markups for legal cigarettes create incentives for tax avoidance.
4 min read