US Treasury head to warn Trump’s proposed tariffs are ‘deeply misguided’

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to say on Thursday that higher import tariffs would be “deeply misguided” – an apparent warning to Donald Trump.

Without naming the former president – who is now the Republican nominee in next month’s presidential election – a speech Yellen plans to give to the Council of Foreign Relations in New York cautions that “untargeted tariffs” would not only drive up domestic inflation, but also set back global security efforts, including those aimed at halting Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“Calls for walling America off with high tariffs on friends and competitors alike or by treating even our closest allies as transactional partners are deeply misguided,” Yellen will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by the Treasury Department.

“Sweeping, untargeted tariffs would raise prices for American families and make our businesses less competitive. And we cannot even hope to advance our economic and security interests – such as opposing Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine – if we go it alone.”

With early voting already in progress in many US states, and with less than three weeks to go before the election, Trump has stepped up his pledge to use tariffs to lower trade deficits, a central component of his diplomatic and economic policies.

As president he used them most forcefully against China, starting a trade war in 2018; as a candidate, he has threatened to raise them significantly if he wins next month.