She added that President Donald Trump’s tariff policy is not about strengthening the economy, but reinforcing his ego.
Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday called out President Donald Trump for using his tariffs and trade policy as a way to get other countries “to bend the knee” to him.
“This is not a policy that will strengthen our economy. This is just to strengthen his ego,” she wrote in a post on X. Her comments come as tariff uncertainty continues to weigh on the U.S. economy. Trump has already announced a slew of tariffs and recently said that more tariffs on the semiconductor sector, pharmaceuticals, and steel may be on the way.
Warren’s criticism echoes concerns voiced abroad as U.S. tariffs increasingly function as instruments of economic coercion. India now faces 50% tariffs on its exports to the U.S. for its continued energy trade with Russia. Even close allies have been pressured. Meanwhile, the EU, Japan, and South Korea have reportedly accepted less favorable terms to avoid steeper penalties.
Trump has long argued that his trade policies are designed to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., reduce debt, and strengthen the economy. However, market analysts and businesses warn that tariffs could ultimately do more harm than good if they fuel higher inflation. On its latest earnings call, Home Depot (HD) said tariffs may force the company to raise prices on some products.
The Federal Reserve has also resisted cutting interest rates, citing uncertainty over the full impact of Trump’s trade measures. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs said in a recent note that the inflationary effects of tariffs are only beginning to surface. The bank estimated that U.S. consumers had absorbed about 22% of tariff costs through June, a figure that could climb to 67% if the new levies follow past patterns.
Trump pushed back, accusing CEO David Solomon and Goldman Sachs of wrongly predicting that tariffs would damage the U.S. economy and markets.
U.S. markets were trading in the red in midday trade on Wednesday. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell 0.71%, the Nasdaq-100 Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) slipped 1.2% and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) was down 0.16%. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF and QQQ trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day.
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