Weatherhead's Jonathan Ernest discusses impact of tariffs on national debt

Can tariff revenue be used to lower the national debt?

Marketplace: Jonathan Ernest, assistant professor of economics at the Weatherhead School of Management, said tariff revenue can only indirectly slow debt growth by reducing government borrowing and often just offsets tax cuts. Marketplace reports the revenue is far too small to meaningfully reduce the nation’s $38 trillion debt, making tariffs an inefficient deficit-reduction tool.