n a lengthy news conference at the conclusion of the Group of Seven summit of industrialized democracies, President Trump made numerous false, misleading or inaccurate statements on a variety of issues. Here’s a tour through some of the more noteworthy ones, in the order in which he made them.
“The tariffs have hit them [China] very hard. In a fairly short period of time, the United States will have collected over $100 billion in tariffs.”
As we have repeatedly noted, U.S. tariffs are a tax on the American people, not China. The tariffs are generally paid by importers, such as U.S. companies, who in turn pass on most or all of the costs to consumers or producers who may use Chinese materials in their products. (Technically, we should note that as a matter of demand and supply elasticities, Chinese producers will pay part of the tax if there are fewer goods sold to the United States.)
