Barack Obama has publicly expressed his views on the recent tariff changes announced by US President Donald Trump, stating they are not ‘good for America’.
On April 2, Trump, aged 78, unveiled a new set of tariffs targeting countries that import goods into the United States.
The President specified a 10 percent baseline tax applicable globally, with increased rates for a selected group of 60 countries he refers to as ‘worst offenders’.
Among the nations affected by these elevated tariffs are Japan (24 percent), South Africa (30 percent), and Vietnam (46 percent).
This announcement was made during a speech in the White House Rose Garden, which Trump termed as ‘Liberation Day’ for the United States. Former President Barack Obama, now 63, has recently shared his thoughts on the matter.
Obama, who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, spoke at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, on Thursday, April 4, about the duties.
Speaking with College President Steven Tepper, Obama mentioned that he is completing the second half of his presidential memoirs and took the opportunity to address America’s gun laws.
It was during this discussion that he commented on his successor, Trump.
“I have deep differences of opinion with my most immediate successor — who’s now president once again,” Obama stated.
“There are a host of policies that we could be discussing where I have strong opinions,” Obama added, noting how he believes the government’s dedication to fundamental principles has ‘eroded’.
He then addressed his views on the Administration’s newly-announced tariffs.
“When I watch some of what’s going on now, it does not — look, I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy,” he remarked.
“I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” Obama continued.
“I am more troubled by the idea that a White House can say to law firms, ‘If you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively.’”
Obama posed a poignant question on the issue: “Imagine if I had done any of this?”
He argued that it would be ‘unimaginable’ for the ‘same parties that are silent now to have tolerated behavior like that’ from him or his predecessors.
However, he emphasized that it is not the responsibility of a single person to ‘fix’ the current state of government affairs.
“It is up to all of us to fix this. It’s not going to be because somebody comes and saves you. The most important office in this democracy is the citizen, the ordinary person who says, no, that’s not right,” Obama stated.
“I do think one of the reasons that our commitment to democratic ideals has eroded is that we got pretty comfortable and complacent.”
Trump, who utilized his IEEPA authority to implement the tariffs, believes the new measures will promote American-made products over imports among US consumers.
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump declared.
The 10 percent tariff on all countries took effect today, April 5.
The individualized higher tariffs on countries with the largest trade deficits with the United States are scheduled to begin on April 9 at 12:01 EDT.
A statement from the White House indicates that the tariffs will remain until Trump decides that the ‘threat posed by the trade deficit and underlying nonreciprocal treatment is satisfied, resolved, or mitigated’.