Lighthizer’s Prescription in a Pandemic Is More U.S. Tariffs

With Covid-19 cases spiking in nearly a dozen U.S. states, this may seem like a strange time to constrain America’s ability to obtain critical medical supplies and drugs.

But new tariffs are exactly the strategy that America’s top trade official said he believes are the best way to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am a firm believer that the things we need to fight the pandemic should be made in America,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told members of the House Ways and Means Committee last week.

“I’m not in favor of reducing tariffs on the things we need. I would be far more in favor of increasing tariffs on the things we need.”