White House uses Hamilton economist’s paper to justify tariffs — but misses his point ‘trade wars are bad’
The White House has recently drawn on the research of Hamilton associate professor Pau S. Pujolas from McMaster University to support President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade war with China. However, Pujolas has expressed that the administration has misinterpreted his work on two separate occasions.
In the first instance, the White House referenced Pujolas’s paper, “Trade deficits with trade wars,” to explain the calculation of reciprocal tariffs against numerous countries. These tariffs were highlighted by Trump during his announcement of a 10% blanket tariff rate on most countries. The second instance occurred when Trump’s economic adviser, Stephen Miran, utilized Pujolas’s research to advocate for the tariffs at a conservative think tank event in Washington, D.C.
While Pujolas acknowledges the recognition, he emphasizes that the administration’s interpretation of his findings is inaccurate. The paper’s analysis does not support the extreme tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese goods. Pujolas and his co-author, Jack Rossbach, aimed to understand the consequences of trade imbalances, emphasizing that the best global outcome would be to avoid trade wars altogether.
Pujolas stresses that their research was intended as a cautionary message for policymakers, emphasizing the detrimental effects of trade deficits and the importance of avoiding tariffs in multilateral agreements. In a separate study, Pujolas and Rossbach recommended that Canada focus on removing interprovincial trade barriers rather than retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. trade actions.
Despite the White House’s use of his research, Pujolas clarifies that he would advise them to cease referencing his work if they were to reach out. The professor underscores the importance of understanding the true implications of trade policies and the negative impacts of escalating trade disputes.
