Fudan-Arab Lecture Series No.19

Title: 

Fiscal and Tariff Policy in the Trump Era

Speaker: 

Mark D. Robbins, Professor, University of Connecticut

Host: 

Asst. Prof. Xin Ye, Fudan IGPP

Time: 

12:00-13:20, Wed, April 9th, 2025

Venue: 

Room 805E, 8th Floor, West Sub-building of Guanghua Towers

https://www.wjx.cn/vm/tT7Fodl.aspx#

The Speaker：

Mark D. Robbins is Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at the University of Connecticut. He conducts research and teaches in public budgeting and finance. His research focuses on public preferences for taxing and spending, and on public debt. He presently serves on the board of Public Financial Publications, Inc, the publisher of Public Budgeting and Finance. He has also served as technical adviser to the Government Finance Officer’s Association’s Debt Committee, on the Commission for Peer Review and Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, and on the Government Accounting Standard Board’s Government Accounting Standards Advisory Council representing the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management. Robbins received his master’s degree from the University of Oregon, and his Ph.D. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School.

Abstract:

In this presentation, the speaker gathers together the salient facts about the American President’s fiscal and trade policies, with particular attention to tariffs. First, the speaker will look at where expectations about tariffs come from and why tariffs act as consumption taxes. Next, the speaker will review the history of tariffs and trade policy, including the original round of Trump tariffs beginning in 2018, highlighting findings from several high-quality studies of their effects. The speaker will discuss American understanding and support for tariffs before looking at the currently evolving tariff policy and how China and USA decoupling may impact economic growth in both societies. The presentation will conclude with a menu of policy responses to contemplate and examine as a new era of policy history unfolds.