Investment expert: Tariffs ‘bullish’ for economy in a way nobody understands
While cynics are sounding the alarm on the economic implications of President Trump’s proposed tariffs on China, one investment expert is very optimistic.
“The tariffs are actually super bullish in a way that nobody seems to understand,” Fisher Investments Executive Chairman Ken Fisher told FOXBusiness’ David Asman on “Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast” on Thursday.
This comes on the heels of the White House on Wednesday announcing it would consider more than doubling its proposed 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods to 25% in order to reinforce that America will not allow Beijing to take advantage of American workers.
Tariff critics correctly point out that a tariff is always a tax, Fisher said, but if imposed, the plan would essentially have a minuscule impact on gross domestic product (GDP).
“We are not going to get a 25% tax tariff rate. It’s going to be more like 16 [percent] which would take you down to 2.5% of one year’s GDP growth globally,” he said, adding that many of the products and almost all of the commodities will be sold off to other countries where there isn’t a tariff.
“It’s huge fear of a tiny little thing,” he added.
The Commerce Department announced in July that second-quarter GDP advanced by 4.1%, and first-quarter GDP was revised to 2.2% from 2%.
The average annual growth rate has been 2.8% over the past four quarters and is now on track for 3.1% growth in 2018 – a level that has been met with skepticism by some economists.