Source: The Atlantic
by Scott Lincicome & Sophia Bagley
“At a campaign event on Tuesday night, Donald Trump vowed to lower the price of groceries by … taxing them? Responding to a question about food costs, Trump told the Michigan audience that his plan would entail both energy deregulation and protectionist restrictions on food imports, which, he claims, would help American farmers. … Reducing fuel costs could reduce food prices a bit if the energy-intensive American agriculture industry passed on the savings to U.S. consumers. And yes, restricting imports of certain farm goods, presumably via Trump’s favorite tool, tariffs, could boost the incomes of American farmers by shielding them from foreign competition. As a plan to lower grocery prices, however, Trump’s protectionism is ludicrous. If implemented, it could even return us to the bad old days of American grocery scarcity.” (09/20/24)