President Joe Biden warned Mr Trump of “grave mistakes” on tax policy, in a speech looking back at his tenure.

“I hope to God that the president-elect will abandon Project 2025. I think it would be an economic disaster for us and the region,” US President Joe Biden said on December 10 at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Project 2025 is a 900-page document compiled by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation think tank, with the participation of dozens of other conservative organizations. Observers say that when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, some of the content from Project 2025 could become a reality, although he has denied any connection with the group that drafted the document since September and called some of its proposals “extreme.”

Over the past month, Mr. Trump has made a series of tariff threats in his economic strategy statements. He has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on goods from the emerging economies of the BRICS group if they seek to replace the dollar in international trade. He has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on neighboring Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China. All three countries are America’s top trading partners.

President Biden warned that American consumers would pay the price if Trump’s tariff threats materialized. “I think that strategy is a serious mistake,” Biden said.

Mr. Joe Biden speaks at the Brookings Institution, Washington, December 10. Photo: AFP

President Biden has emphasized his presidency’s achievements in reviving the US economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, promoting huge investments in green technology and industrial infrastructure. “President-elect Trump will inherit the strongest economy in modern history,” he declared.

In an official statement afterward, the White House called Mr Biden’s speech “an important message about his economic legacy”, as the 82-year-old President prepares to leave office in less than six weeks.

At the Wall Street Journal CEO Summit on December 10, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also warned that Trump’s tariff threats could “derail the progress the US has made in controlling inflation and have adverse consequences for growth.”

She worries that the successor administration’s tax policies could push up prices, burdening American consumers and putting huge pressure on American companies that rely on imports.