The head of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) warned that President Trump’s sweeping tariffs will “drive inflation” and “kill jobs,” risking a recession in the U.S.
Trump announced his most wide-ranging slate of tariffs yet on Wednesday afternoon, imposing a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from nearly all foreign countries, along with tariffs of up to 50 percent on dozens of nations.
“These tariffs will raise consumer prices and will force our trade partners to retaliate,” CTA CEO and Vice Chair Gary Shapiro said in a statement. “Americans will become poorer because of these tariffs.”
“This will not be a golden age — but a return to the global economic catastrophe of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the 1930s that will disproportionately hurt low income and hardworking Americans,” he continued.
“Make no mistake: American consumers, families, and workers will feel real pain, and elected policymakers in Washington will be held accountable by voters,” Shapiro added.
The Smoot-Hawley tariffs are widely blamed for plunging the U.S. deeper into the Great Depression. Despite this, Trump claimed Wednesday that the depression would not have happened if tariffs had continued.
“In 1929, it all came to a very abrupt end with the Great Depression, and it would have never happened if they had stayed with the tariff policy. Would have been a much different story,” the president said in remarks as he unveiled his massive tariff plan.
The latest tariffs are expected to hit the tech industry hard. Analysts with Wedbush Securities called Wednesday’s announcement “worse than the worst-case scenario” for tech investors.
Companies such as Apple and Nvidia are likely to feel the pinch from hefty tariffs on China and Taiwan, which are facing 34 percent and 32 percent tariffs, respectively.
Major tech stocks, which have already had a rocky year so far, also plunged in after-hours trading.
