Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that tariffs were a “tax on the consumer,” because international trade has made Americas richer.
Host Margaret Brennan said, “You’ve made clear you are a fiscal conservative. I want to ask about the choice just made to Select Hedge Fund manager Scott Bessent as the Treasury Secretary. He had a long financial career. He served as the chief investment officer for George Soros funds, been a political donor. Elon Musk came out publicly against him, calling him business as usual. Do you favor Mr. Bessent in the role as treasury secretary?”
Paul said, “You know, I’ve heard good things about him. I haven’t made a decision. I lean toward being supportive. I don’t like tariffs. I think tariffs are a tax on the consumer. They ignore things like with steel, there are 80 workers working in steel buying industry for every worker made steel. So yeah, you can protect certain industries, but it’s at the expense of other people. I don’t believe that will be enough for me to want to vote against Bessent because it’s also the president’s position, as well. I will be vocal in saying that I think tariffs are bad and that international trade actually saves every consumer about $7,000 a year. So everybody in our country is $7,000 richer because of international trade. It’s part of one of the booms of post war and post industrial revolution. This amazing international trade has made us all richer, and we need to talk about the statistics and facts concerning the benefits of trade.”
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