Former Vice President Pence warned of a “price shock” and other consequences of President Trump’s new tariff policy in an interview that aired Monday on CNN.
“I do have a concern that when the so-called 90-day pause comes off, that even the administration has conceded that there may be a price shock in the economy … and there may be shortages,” Pence told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on her show, referencing a pause for 90 days on “reciprocal” tariffs against American trading partners implemented last month.
His comments follow Trump’s recent statements about the rising price of certain items amid his tariffs, including a 145 percent tariff on China.
“Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” Trump said.
The president’s tariff policy in his first few months of his second term has rattled markets across the globe, strained relationships with longtime allies like the European Union and Canada and raised economic anxieties.
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are set to meet Tuesday amid heightened tensions over trade between their respective countries.
After securing victory in a recent Canadian election, Carney stated that the U.S. president has “fundamentally changed” the world in the last few months, noting sweeping tariffs and a proposal from Trump to merge Canada with the U.S.
“As I’ve been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country,” Carney said in an Ottawa victory speech last month. “These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never … ever happen.”
“But we also must recognize the reality that our world has fundamentally changed,” he added.
Pence said in his CNN interview with Collins that he does “have concerns … with the president’s call for broad-based tariffs against friend and foe alike, that ultimately the administration is advancing policies that are not targeted at countries that have been abusing our trade relationship.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
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