East Texas economist says tariff rebate checks would increase inflation

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - An East Texas economist says President Donald Trump’s proposed tariff rebate checks would lead to an increase in inflation.

President Trump has signaled a desire to send Americans $2,000 checks he said would be funded by tariff revenue.

Dr. Ray Perryman, president of The Perryman Group, said the checks would cost about $450 billion to implement, which is twice as much as the money he said the tariffs are likely to bring in. Perryman estimated the checks would increase inflation between 1.1 to 1.3 percent.

“We have about three percent inflation, and a lot of people are feeling a lot of hardship with regard to food, with regard to a lot of other things,” Perryman said. “You’d be talking about basically adding another third onto that, which would be pretty significant