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Former Governor of Rhode Island and Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo ’93 condemned the Trump administration’s rollout of tariff policies at a Wednesday forum at the Institute of Politics.
“It’s much more likely that we’re going to wind up in a recession than I would have predicted a few months ago,” Raimondo said.
At the forum, moderated by Harvard Kennedy School professor Jeff B. Liebman, Raimondo emphasized the importance of maintaining the trust of economic allies.
“Anyone who’s ever negotiated anything or tried to make allies knows trust is the coin of the realm, so I can’t pretend to understand the logic of what’s happening,” she said.
Trump announced 10 percent tariffs on 90 countries across the world last week, sending financial markets into a downward spiral. But the administration reversed course on Wednesday morning, pausing implementation for 90 days while increasing tariffs on Chinese goods to 125 percent.
While Raimondo said she “does not support” President Trump’s approach to trade partnerships, she agreed with a need for change in global trade.
“I do think we need reform in trade. Free trade is great if everyone plays by the rules. Not everyone plays by the rules. China does not play by the rules,” she said. “So I think having more reciprocity is reasonable.”
Beyond discussing global economic issues, Raimondo also addressed her time serving as treasurer of Rhode Island, where she worked against her own party to fix the “dysfunctional pension system.”
“I’ve been a bit of a disruptor my whole time in government,” she said.
But she drew a distinction between her innovation and that of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“I don’t know if he is interested to break things to fix them, so much as he might be interested to break things so that his companies can then sell products to the government to fix them — or just break things to break them because you hate government and don’t care so much about the people that you’re serving,” Raimondo said.
But despite her criticisms of Musk and DOGE, Raimondo said longstanding practices should not be kept “just because it’s the way it’s been done.”
“We can be better, faster, more efficient — and so that is what I believe in,” she said.
“However, execution matters and you can’t hurt people in the process — and breaking things for breaking things’ sake, I think, is no good,” Raimondo added.
Raimondo also encouraged student attendees to get involved with the government.
“Run for office, serve in government at any level. If you do, things will be better. If you don’t, they won't,” Raimondo said. “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”
