Financial experts issue warnings about the ‘elephant in the room’ that Harris has been silent about

With the economy top of mind among voters heading to the polls, a finance expert is sounding the alarm about Vice President Kamala Harris’ “lack of conversation” about international economic theory.

“There’s a potential red flag here with Harris’ lack of conversation about tariffs and actually confronting China,” “What should I do with my money?” said author Bryan Kuderna Fox Digital News.

“She’s been so silent on any international economic theory, whether it’s having tariffs, whether it’s not having tariffs, how we’re going to move forward over the next four years versus the other superpower, China, kind of the elephant in the middle of the room. She’s been very, very quiet about it.”

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Harris has largely focused her economic platform on domestic issues and supporting American families through proposed credits and incentives. He also promoted policies that would make the wealthy “pay their fair share of taxes.”

Kuderna, however, warned that if Harris is elected and her economic policies are implemented, it could leave America vulnerable on the world stage.

“If we take a step back and say, well, let’s see how things play out. Let’s focus on America and helping young professionals, helping first-time homebuyers, things of that nature, that’s all good. But in the meantime, if this allows China and its economy to actually become a little more dominant, which can have long-term consequences for our No. 1 position globally.”

The chief economist of the International Center for Law & Economics, Brian Albrecht, admitted that it is “a little about that Harris he hasn’t put forward a more concrete plan for what he would do as it relates to tariffs and international trade and immigration and things like that. But he is in a difficult situation. He must defend an administration that has maintained virtually all of the tariffs imposed by Trump.”

Although the Biden-Harris administration has kept many Trump-era tariffs in place, the vice president hit his contenders’ tariff proposals hard on the campaign trail, even accusing them of “selling us” during the September presidential debate on ABC News.

While Harris has distanced herself from the tariffs, both Kuderna and Albrecht say it’s reasonable to assume it will be a “continuation” of Biden’s approach to foreign trade relations with China and other nations.

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Conversely, former president Trump’s economic agenda has a strong international focus aimed at competing with China, while simultaneously calling for lower taxes and cutting regulation domestically.

Kuderna summarized Trump’s vision as one in which the administration would “help domestically by cutting regulation, lowering taxes, letting the American people and American companies lead the way for themselves by getting out of the way, and then as government of United States, we” will go abroad and make sure we can do it keep China under control and then work on Iran, the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine and all these other little fires that have expanded.”

The Fiscal Foundation noted that Trump’s plan calls for imposing a universal tariff on all U.S. imports of 20%, increasing Section 301 tariffs on China to 60%, and imposing a 10% foreign retaliatory tariff on US exports to China.

Albrecht warned that Trump’s increased emphasis on tariffs is a “major concern” for consumers and the U.S. manufacturing sector.

“We know from economic research that these costs are ultimately borne by consumers, but they also impact U.S. manufacturing. So in the name of protecting American manufacturing from competition with China, you are actually harming American manufacturing,” the chief economist said.

Trump has been very courageous in using tariffs as a means to compete on the world stage and as a source of tax revenue.

Albrecht argued that the problem with Trump’s plan is that “it just doesn’t add up.”

“There aren’t enough imported goods to make this work for every dollar that people earn in income. And if you tried to do that, you would essentially shut down international trade.”

HOW MUCH WOULD THE HARRIS AND TRUMP ECONOMIC PLANS ADD TO THE DEBT?

It is unclear whether Trump’s tariffs will be implemented or used as a negotiating tactic. However, if the tariffs were implemented, they would raise between $2 trillion and $4.3 trillion in tax revenue over a decade, according to the report. Analysis by the Commission for a Responsible Federal Budget.

“We always hope for a bigger and better economy and the ability to tax everyone less as they grow, grow, grow and then make the rest of the world pay. It all sounds good, but in practice there would be some short term pain in the long term to perhaps get to that long-term gain,” Kuderna reasoned.

“Would revenue from international tariffs make up for any loss of tax revenue we have domestically? It’s very difficult to quantify, but it probably wouldn’t happen immediately, and the concern is whether we will increase our national debt,” he continued.

The economic programs proposed by both candidates are expected to substantially increase the US national debt.

The CRFB calculated that Trump’s plan could add about $8 trillion to the debt by 2035 compared to about $4 trillion under Harris.

While both candidates recognize the importance of the economy, Trump maintains a narrow lead over Harris in national polls. A recent Reuters/Ipsos investigation found that Trump has 45% support on the economy, compared to Harris’ 40%.

“It’s clear to everyone that the economy is a major concern. What we disagree about is what it means in practice and what to do in the future,” Albrecht said.

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FOX Business’ Kayla Bailey and Eric Revell and Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.