Protect American workers with tariffs
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. champions a populist-nationalist approach to the US economy, pledging to impose tariffs on foreign imports to protect American workers and industries unfair commercial competition.
In a series of Twitter posts, Kennedy detailed the country’s growing wealth inequality, according to which the highest earners – many of whom are billionaires – have seen their share of income rise exponentially while the share of income among the Working-class and middle-class Americans steadily declined. .
The collapse of unions — in part because of decades-long job-killing free trade policies — has coincided with growing income inequality, Kennedy noted.
“The share of the highest incomes going to the richest 10% has risen from 35% in 1945 to more than 45% today. Union membership has fallen over the same period from 33% to around 10% – its lowest level since the 1930s,” he wrote on Twitter:
From the end of World War II to the 1980s, income distribution remained relatively constant. But union membership began to decline, and the income share going to the bottom 90% followed suit. VSApitalism only works fairly if workers have the collective bargaining power of unions, so they can claim a fair share of the economic pie. (Emphasis added)
The highest share of income going to the richest 10% has risen from 35% in 1945 to over 45% today. Union membership has fallen over the same period, from 33% to around 10% – its lowest level since the 1930s.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 20, 2023
To counter declining working-class and middle-class income growth, Kennedy said the United States should impose tariffs on foreign imports to protect its domestic workforce and industries from the widespread outsourcing of American jobs to multinational corporations.
“As President, I will protect America’s workforce AND America’s industry,” Kennedy wrote on Twitter. “One thing I will consider: tariffs on imports from countries that allow the exploitation of workers. American industries should not be forced to relocate to low-wage areas as nations compete to sacrifice wages and working conditions in a “race to the bottom.”
As President, I will protect the American workforce AND American industry. One thing I will consider: tariffs on imports from countries that allow the exploitation of workers. American industries should not be forced to relocate to low-wage areas as nations compete for…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 20, 2023
While free trade and trade deficits have eliminated millions of American jobs, devastating working-class and middle-class communities, tariffs would likely increase domestic production, raise wages, and relocate jobs to United States, according to research.
A recent study by economists from the Coalition for a Prosperous America, for example, finds that tariffs on almost all foreign imports would create about ten million American jobs while boosting domestic production.
As Kennedy mentioned, middle-class wealth has fallen to historic lows.
The middle class, in 2021, comprises 77.5 million American households with an annual income of $27,000 to $141,000. In October 2021, Breitbart News reported that the top 1% in the United States now holds more wealth than the entire American middle class.
Specifically, the middle class saw its share of national wealth drop to just 26.6%, while the wealth share of the top 1% rose to 27% – the first time in the history of the states. United States that the wealth share of the top 1% has exceeded that of the middle class. share of wealth.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
Breitbart
