President Donald Trump’s insistence on barreling forward with 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico was subjected to a stark dose of reality by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, who revealed who he believes will truly benefit from the tariff plan.
And it’s not the American consumer.
“This is a really dumb idea,” Zakaria said Monday evening during an appearance on CNN’s “OutFront.” He added: “This is a gift to Japan and Korea.”
Zakaria opened up about what he fears will come if tariffs are slapped on Mexican and Canadian goods, and suggested there could be more at play in Trump’s persistence to see the plan through.
“Take something like the tariffs on consumer goods or electronic goods coming out of Mexico,” he said. “What's going to happen is southeast Asian manufacturers, most many of whom are Chinese-owned, or the Chinese are using or using as a back door to get in, are going to be privileged here because there are no tariffs on Malaysia, there's no tariffs on Indonesia, there are no tariffs on Thailand.”
ALSO READ: 'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight
He said the same was true when it comes to car production in the United States, which he said happens as part of an “integrated supply chain,” where parts move back and forth from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico.
“They cross the border three or four times, and you build essentially North American cars,” Zakaria said. “So you're tariffing the part of the American supply chain, and guess who's going to come in? The Korean car manufacturers and the Japanese car manufacturers, for whom there are no tariffs. “
It was all part of a “very weird own goal where Trump is so obsessed with owning Mexico or Canada that he doesn't realize that what he's doing is actually benefiting China, benefiting Japan, benefiting Korea. And by the way, the American consumer pays the bill.”
Zakaria concluded that “the facts are not” on Trump’s side, “but it doesn't seem to matter.”
“I hope there's an off ramp,” he said. “It doesn't look like it.”
Trump said Monday the tariffs on Mexico and Canada would hit at midnight.
Watch the clip below or at this link:
