Trump Loves Tariffs — Just Not for the Rich and Well-Connected
Self-Dealing, Corruption, and Grift in Trump’s Tariff Exceptions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of Donald Trump’s promised April 2 “reciprocal tariffs” on potentially all goods from all countries, a new report by Public Citizen documents how his first-term tariffs and exemptions to them were weaponized to reward Trump’s allies and punish his enemies.
The exclusions process was created ostensibly to protect small businesses that would face an undue burden from Trump’s tariffs. But reports from government watchdogs and a new empirical study suggest that the opaque and chaotic process quickly overwhelmed government agencies and enabled a quid pro quo spoils system that rewarded the rich and well-connected. A revolving door of lobbyists, including former and future Trump administration officials, were able to secure lucrative tariff exceptions for their CEO clients through political pressure, informal meetings, and campaign contributions.
Senator Elizabeth Warren shared the following reaction to the new report:
“Giving exceptions to Donald Trump’s ‘rich-as-hell’ friends and American adversaries undermines our trade policy and hurts American businesses and workers. Tariffs can be a valuable tool to create new jobs and support manufacturing in the United States, but we need to make sure they’re not a corrupt giveaway to the wealthy and well-connected. I am grateful for Public Citizen’s work to uncover the depth of this corruption and will continue to conduct strong oversight to protect the integrity of our trade policy.”
Report highlights:
- Apple CEO and Trump sycophant Tim Cook received exemptions for the infamously made-in-China iPhone and other products.
- A Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin was granted a tariff exemption, which was revoked following a wave of public backlash.
- Delays in enacting certain tariffs suggest Trump temporarily withheld them just long enough to extract personal benefit, such as a million-dollar fireworks donation for a controversial taxpayer-funded rally and patent approvals from Argentina for his holdings company.
Melanie Foley, acting director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, explained:
“The administration says the coming tariffs will also respond to other countries’ ‘non-tariff barriers,’ which basically means any policy that big businesses don’t like, including food safety measures, climate targets, and big tech accountability regulations.
“Many factors have created a perfect storm that may make tariff–exemption cronyism even more egregious this time around: the immense increase in categories of tariffed goods, the shocking self-dealing already on display in this administration, and the ongoing attacks on government workers who will handle exemption requests.
“There are countless ways for Elon Musk, for example, to benefit from tariffs or exceptions to them – and we are already seeing other countries preemptively clearing regulatory hurdles for Musk’s companies in the hopes of winning Trump’s favor and avoiding tariffs.”