The Atlantic

Paul Ryan's Tax Plan May Not Do What Trump Says It Will

The president appears to be considering a border adjustment tax, which many economists favor. But its supporters warn it won’t give him what he wants.
Source: Jorge Duenes/Reuters

For as loudly as Donald Trump complains about foreign trade, it’s hard to pin him to specifics. Does he prefer a 20 percent tariff on Mexican imports? Or a 45 percent tax on companies that move jobs overseas? Or… something else?

On Thursday, the president made his position a bit more clear. In an interview with Reuters, he praised a proposal by House Speaker Paul Ryan to broadly tax imports but remove taxes on exports, a core component of the Republican “Better Way” blueprint.

Ryan wants the “border adjustment” as part of a larger refactoring of the American tax code, something fiscal conservatives have sought for a long time. But Trump doesn’t appear to care about tax reform. He just wants domestic job growth.

From Reuters:

"It could lead to a lot more jobs in the United States," Trump told Reuters

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