Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) unveiling of his 2024 economic agenda on Thursday featured many typical Republican objectives with one notable exception: trade.
High on the GOP’s wish list are tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks in his newly announced “Build Don’t Borrow” plan is a call to “avoid a blunt trade war with our friends and allies.”
The proposal has sparked a clash between the Republican presidential contender and the party’s front-runner, former President Donald Trump, who has floated a basic 10% tariff on goods entering the US.
“10% overall [tariff would] increase in the cost of everything,” Scott told The Post. “In the current inflationary environment [that] won’t help.”
While Scott agreed that US tariffs on China were “helpful,” he was cautious about the impact of imposing sweeping sanctions on non-enemy countries.
Former President Trump has floated a basic 10% tariff on goods pouring into the US, something his Republican presidential rival, Tim Scott, said would raise the cost of everything.Getty Images
“I have to look at every tariff that we have and make sure that they achieve the necessary results,” Scott said. “Targeted tariffs can help. A blank slate and on a board will do harm.”
Trump has defied conservative orthodoxy by cutting more trade protections, but Scott believes tariffs should be weighed on a case-by-case basis.
Scott’s economic plan boils down to three pillars: cut government, put Americans to work and build more in the US.
Senator Tim Scott said that the tariffs imposed by the US on China could lead to the effect of imposing extensive sanctions on non-enemy countries. ZUMAPRESS.com
On taxes, Scott wants to repeal the Estate Tax, strengthen so-called tax-advantaged Opportunity Zones, and extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which he credits himself for helping them.
The TCJA famously lowered corporate tax rates and featured a temporary reduction in income taxes. Last year, the Congressional Budget Office projected that extending the cuts could add $2.7 trillion to the deficit between then and 2032.
Still, Scott is trying to think of himself as a deficit cutter. His plan calls for a return to pre-pandemic baseline levels for non-military discretionary spending.
Former President Trump has previously defied conservative orthodoxy by reducing more protections against trade. Reuters
Projections of deficit reduction from those vary based on specifics and implementation, but a study cited by the conservative CATO Institute suggests a return to pre-pandemic spending levels could save as much as $4.8 trillion over the next decade.
He also wants to scrap President Biden’s $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats claim has curbed deficits to just under $300 billion over the decade.
For context, the CBO has projected the US will add more than $20 trillion to the debt over the period 2024–2033. Currently, the current US debt is only $33 trillion.
Rep. Tim Scott has expressed interest in repealing the estate tax, strengthening the Opportunity Zone and extending tax cuts.AP
“Long term, we need to have a balanced budget amendment … to tell leaders in Congress that you can’t spend what you don’t have or buy what you don’t need,” Scott argued.
Other key proposals on his agenda are plans to convene the governor’s “10th Amendment Commission” to lay out ways to cut government, expand Pell Grants, impose stricter welfare requirements, fight ethanol and target Chinese farmland seizures.
“[They’re] buying up strategic farmland and other real estate to spy on what Americans are doing either on our military bases, and in our agriculture,” Scott warned.
The presidential candidate will use powers from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which oversees foreign investment in the US, to crack down on Chinese land grabs.
“When it is in the interest of our national security, we will definitely eliminate it,” he said when asked about the banning of the purchase.
Scott is currently polling in seventh place with 2.4% support in the 2024 GOP primary, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
