First, basic math says that’s nonsense. You can easily calculate how much a tax on Americans who import would need to bring in to match the current amount of income tax. The calculated tariff rate would be astronomical — and that’s without taking into account that when you tax a thing, people do less of it, so imports would fall, necessitating even higher tariff rates.

Second, tariffs are a regressive tax, and income taxes are progressive. IOW, America’s federal govt under our current income tax system is mostly paid for by the rich. Switching the govt’s revenue to a tax on imports would shift the burden to the non-rich, who spend a much larger percentage of their income and net worth on imported goods than rich people do.

Trump is a dangerous ignoramus.