David McCormick, the former hedge fund executive turned Republican Senate candidate, said he's concerned that Donald Trump's tariff proposals could stoke inflation, but blamed recent high prices on President Joe Biden's spending and student loan forgiveness plans.
"I do think that there's the risk of inflationary impact," McCormick said Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television when asked about Trump's tariff hike plans.
"The Biden administration's economic agenda has driven up inflation and made us more dependent on our primary adversary, and that's why, as I've run for the Senate, I've advocated a set of policies that take us in the opposite direction," McCormick said, referring to China.
Inflation is a defining issue for many voters this election cycle, with polls showing that persistently high prices have soured perceptions of Biden's handling of the economy.
McCormick said he was "skeptical" of tariffs before Trump, but now says he supports "selective use" of trade levies to "ensure a fair playing field."
He added that a key way to grow the economy is to renew Trump's 2017 tax cuts that are slated to expire next year.
Trump has pledged to enact 60% tariffs on imports from China and 10% duties on those from the rest of the world, a trade agenda that mainstream economists warn could amount to a tax increase for American households, raising prices on a broad assortment of goods, including autos, food and pharmaceuticals.
That tariff plan would also likely send inflation above the Federal Reserve's target rate and pressure the bank to raise interest rates, Bloomberg Economics said in a report in April.
Trump's proposals to hike tariffs on all imports, and use the proceeds to offset tax cuts has received a chilly reception from many economists.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers called Trump's idea to replace income taxes with tariffs the "mother of all stagflation" that would create "worldwide economic warfare."
Swing State
McCormick's race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is one of the most closely-watched races of the cycle.
