President Trump’s Tariffs And Sovereign Wealth Fund Can Restore American Economic Primacy, Cut Inflation https://dailytorch.com/2025/03/president-trumps-tariffs-and-sovereign-wealth-fund-can-restore-american-economic-primacy-cut-inflation/
President Donald Trump has expanded his tariffs to include a new 25 percent tariffs on all trucks and cars and automobile parts being imported into the U.S. in a March 26 proclamation, citing national security concerns with outsourced automobile production, stating, “automobiles and certain automobile parts are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States.” Trump cited a February 2019 report by then-Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross that highlighted defense production interests being upheld by a strong U.S. auto industry, fueling military innovation and at a time of war or national emergency, the U.S. military needs to be able to rely upon domestic production. Investors might be temporarily spooked, but trade barriers can include monetary barriers, too. In just the past year, the Canadian dollar has depreciated against the U.S. dollar by 5 percent and the Mexican peso has depreciated by 18.3 percent. By any definition, these are competitive devaluations, but they could result in a temporarily stronger dollar, slowing inflation. This is where President Trump’s proposed sovereign wealth fund could make a big difference in not only helping to bolster U.S. production and balance trade, but also shore up fiscal policy, with a report due to the President on May 3 outlining the structure of the fund. Namely, the federal government is sitting on some $7.3 trillion of intergovernmental holdings of non-marketable U.S. treasuries in various trust funds including but not limited to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Want to fight inflation, Mr. President? You could direct the Treasury and other departments to begin selling some of those trillions of dollars’ worth of treasuries, directly taking money out of circulation. It could be worth consideration. Either way, President Trump is creating new tools that future presidents of both parties can utilize. They can thank him later.
