Geoff Bennett:
The CBO also released a separate analysis today about the impact of President Trump’s tariffs. It projects current tariff policies would reduce the federal deficit by $2.8 trillion over the next decade, while also raising inflation and shrinking the size of the economy.
That deficit savings is a bit more than the big spending and tax cut bill would cost. It comes as President Trump issued new tariffs on steel and aluminum overnight, doubling them from 25 to 50 percent.
For more, we’re joined by Babak Hafezi. He’s an adjunct professor at American university’s Kogod School of business and CEO of Hafezi Capital. That’s an international consulting firm.
So, President Trump announced these sweeping tariffs last week during a visit to Pittsburgh, catching a lot of people off guard. Help us understand the administration’s rationale. Why move forward with this right now?