After months of delay, higher tariffs that President Donald Trump had vowed to impose on goods imported from dozens of countries went into effect on Aug. 7, affecting trade with most of the United States’ trading partners. But before and after he took office in January, Trump has made a series of false and misleading statements to justify his new tariff policies.
Here is a recap of some of his claims that we have fact-checked:
For starters, Trump continues to falsely claim or suggest that the tariffs will be paid by other countries and not American consumers. Just before the newest tariffs went into effect, Trump wrote on Truth Social, in all capital letters: “RECIPROCAL TARIFFS TAKE EFFECT AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, LARGELY FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE UNITED STATES FOR MANY YEARS, LAUGHING ALL THE WAY, WILL START FLOWING INTO THE USA.”
