Former Treasury Secretary Slams High Tariff Levels: ‘Worst Economic Policy Since WWII’

Lawrence Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, has launched a scathing critique of current tariff levels in a television appearance. He emphasized that tariffs are now significantly higher than when the U.S. initiated trade wars in 2018, exceeding them by over ten times. Summers contends that claims suggesting positive effects from tariffs are fundamentally flawed, arguing instead that indiscriminate tariff increases pose immense economic risks. He deems this policy approach as one of the worst ever implemented, comparable only to the devastating impact of World War II, and a severe act of self-harm by the U.S. government.