Economist and Echelon Wealth Partners co-founder Peter Schiff warned that President Donald Trump‘s planned 50% tariffs on Canadian autos, trucks, auto parts and steel could hit American consumers hard, arguing that the duties would make goods that Americans rely on “vastly more expensive” to buy.
Cost of Living Crisis
Schiff, taking to the social media platform X, said that the “50% tariffs on Canadian autos, trucks, auto parts and steel” would hit Americans “hard,” as many were dependent on Canada for “a lot of those goods.”
He added that the aforementioned goods would be “vastly more expensive for Americans to buy,” which would intensify the “government-created cost of living crisis.”
Tariffs on Canada have been criticized by several Democratic Party lawmakers. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) said that the tariffs on Canadian goods would raise taxes on Michiganders, while adding that it could also result in job losses in the state’s auto industry.
On the other hand, Michigan’s Democratic Senate Nominee Abdul El-Sayed said that Trump was imposing tariffs on Canada for “vanity” and that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs would negatively impact Michigan residents. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) also questioned the move to impose tariffs on Canada.
De-Dollarization Risks
In a separate post, Schiff also pointed to the risk of de-dollarization, which the investor thinks is being expedited due to the Trump administration’s “further weaponization of the U.S. dollar to advance its Iran policy.” Simply put, de-dollarization refers to reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar in trade, reserves and financial transactions, potentially through greater use of other currencies or assets such as gold.
Schiff added that the transition in policy “couldn’t happen at a worse time,” arguing that the “last thing we need now is more Treasuries to buy back or monetize.”
Earlier, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked the U.S.’s plans to buy frozen meat to grapple with rising beef prices, questioning the Trump administration’s planned bond buybacks. “What’s the plan for bonds, import frozen yields?” he said.
Iran’s Security Chief Mohsen Rezaee, following Trump’s economic restriction threats, warned countries against participating in the measures, saying participation would count as an act of war against Tehran. He also said that there would be no flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf.
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