Johnathan Walker:Are you worried about the high prices we're paying? Biden’s tariffs will make it worse.

When it comes to the negative impact of tariffs,Johnathan Walker President Joe Biden should heed the wise words of … himself.

That’s right. 

In 2019, then-candidate Biden took aim at President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on thousands of products and the hundreds of dollars individual families would have to pay each year as a result. 

“Trump doesn’t get the basics,” Biden lectured on social media. “He thinks his tariffs are being paid by China. Any freshman econ student could tell you that the American people are paying his tariffs. The cashiers at Target see what’s going on – they know more about economics than Trump.”

Those same Target cashiers – and the majority of U.S. voters – can still see that tariffs are bad news and that Biden’s new tariffs on China will result in higher prices at a time when Americans are already worried about affording their daily lives. 

Biden announced last week tariff hikes on a variety of goods from China, including electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar cells and batteries. 

It’s an election year, however. And Biden is worried about his prospects in key swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania – strong union states that could be swayed by these protectionist policies. 

Trump has also pressured Biden by promising even tougher tariffs if he were to win a second term. 

Regardless of who’s pitching tariffs, they’re not good for the U.S. economy or for the average consumer.

It’s all of us who pay the price 

Economic problems, including the high cost of living and inflation, continue to top concerns of voters ahead of the presidential election. 

Talking tough on China and promising to help shore up domestic U.S. industries may play well with some voters, but it’s everyday Americans who pay the price for these campaign ploys. 

It’s hard to see how telling voters you’re going to raise their taxes and the cost of goods they want is a selling point, but political reality is often at odds with economic reality, said Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute.

“The political narrative is, to win the White House, you need to be at least nominally protectionist,” Lincicome told me this week. “Of course, that has nothing to do with the economic realities that people hate high prices.”

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Biden’s U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, last week tried to tell reporters that the “link, in terms of tariffs to prices, has been largely debunked” – a claim that’s laughably false. 

No matter the reason for the tariff, it is a tax hike that the consumer bears. For instance, the Tax Foundation estimates that the Trump administration's tariffs resulted in a tax increase of nearly $80 billion.

"Finding an economist that says tariffs don't raise prices is like finding a scientist that says you can turn lead into gold," Lincicome said. "It's political alchemy, not reality."

A little honesty and less pandering, please 

Biden has kept most of Trump’s tariffs, it should be noted, even though prior to becoming president, Biden said he’d reverse Trump’s “senseless policies.” 

“Historical evidence shows tariffs raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for U.S. businesses and consumers, which results in lower income, reduced employment, and lower economic output,” the Tax Foundation states. 

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An honest president or presidential candidate would tell that to the American people straight. 

Biden has claimed throughout his presidency to care about righting the economy following COVID-19. Everything he’s done, however, has accomplished the opposite. That’s why he’s having such a hard time selling anyone on “Bidenomics.” 

“For a president who brags that fighting inflation is his top domestic priority, it seems like every economic policy – from runaway spending to student loan bailouts to tariffs to Buy America to housing subsidies to ethanol – is inflationary,” the Manhattan Institute’s Brian Riedl observed on X . “Some other priority always tops it.”

Biden may be getting caught up in his desire for a second term, but he’d be smart to revisit his own stance on tariffs prior to winning the White House. 

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques.