A year after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping onslaught of tariffs, the strategy behind the measures is not working, according to US trade policy expert Laura von Daniels.
“For consumers and most businesses in the United States, tariffs increase costs,” said this political scientist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
“Along with the big rise in energy prices due to the war in Iran, the tariffs are also pushing up inflation again.”
Little remains of Trump’s promise to lower the cost of living, von Daniels said. Another unfulfilled promise was that the tariffs would generate high additional revenue to improve the U.S. fiscal situation.
“Trump has widened the budget deficit through his tax reform,” von Daniels said, adding that the war in Iran and possible further military action also threaten to create additional holes in the state budget.
She argued that the main damage to the US economy is caused by the uncertainty Trump’s policies are creating in the market. “Trump created all the problems himself, for no reason,” she said.
On April 2, 2025, the so-called “Liberation Day,” Trump announced high special tariffs on goods from numerous countries. The aggressive tariff policy is a key component of his second term in the US presidency.
The US Supreme Court has since ruled that many of the tariffs are illegal in their current form. But Von Daniels said that that court’s ruling was just a setback to Trump’s tariff policy and would not stop him.
As announced, Trump imposed more tariffs immediately after the court ruling. The US government is already considering new trade measures, Laura von Daniels added.
