'A tax increase on US consumers': Fox Business reporter trashes Trump's new EU deal
Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino downplayed President Donald Trump's trade deal with the European Union as a "tax on U.S. consumers."
"You know, thank God we got it out of the way," Gasparino told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Monday after Trump announced the deal over the weekend. "I think the markets are going to like this deal."
"The stuff that they're buying from us, they probably would have bought anyway, Brian, to be real honest with you," he continued. "They're cutting back on Russian natural gas, obviously, for a lot of reasons. They're building out their military because of Russian expansionism. So that, they were going to do that anyway."
Gasparino suggested that a 15% tariff Trump imposed on E.U. goods was not good for the U.S. consumer.
"That means U.S. consumers are paying 15% more, too," he explained. "So it's kind of like a tax increase on U.S. consumers. That's one way to look at this."
The reporter noted that steel was also "going to cost us more."
"Every penny we get from them is being passed to the U.S. consumer," Gasparino warned.
"Not necessarily, right?" Kilmeade countered.
"Oh, yes, necessarily," Gasparino fired back. "Some companies will eat it for now. But remember, companies don't report to the president. They report to shareholders, and they have a fiduciary responsibility for profit margins. And at some point, and that point is coming — I mean, you can see it. There are, there have been price increases on certain goods. I mean, there's no doubt."
"But let's be real clear here," he added. "You know, tariffs cost, they're a tax."