Elon Musk's tariff plans could lead to temporary harm for consumers, according to Trump allies.

• Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick, campaign surrogates for Donald Trump, acknowledge that the Republican presidential nominee's policy plan may cause short-term economic pain, but they believe the potential benefits will outweigh the costs.
• Trump's economic plan involves a combination of tax reductions and a universal tariff suggestion, which many independent economists predict will increase federal deficits and rekindle inflation.
• Trump allies are employing a new strategy to counter economists' criticism, as indicated by Musk and Lutnick's remarks: sacrificing short-term benefits for long-term advantages.

Elon Musk, a top ally and surrogate of former President Donald Trump, seems to acknowledge that the Republican presidential nominee's policy plans could cause a short-term economic storm.

But they contend it will be worth the sunnier long-term outlook.

On Tuesday, Musk concurred with a social media post that stated the former president's policy proposals could cause an "extreme reaction in the economy" and lead to "markets collapsing" before eventually recovering to a "more stable position."

"Sounds about right," replied Musk, one of Trump's most prominent billionaire supporters, on X.

Tens of thousands of products would become more expensive to consumers if the former president's economic platform, which includes steep tax cuts and universal tariffs on imports, were enacted.

Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of the Trump-Vance 2025 transition team, acknowledged that imposing tariffs on foreign goods would increase the cost of imports and lead to higher consumer prices.

Lutnick stated in a CNBC interview that if a tariff is raised on a specific unique product, it will become more expensive.

Lutnick stated that increasing the cost of imports would encourage consumers to purchase domestic alternatives, except for products that the U.S. does not manufacture.

He stated that the price would increase if we did not produce that specific product.

JD Vance, Trump's running mate, acknowledged the potential consumer pain of Trump's vision for across-the-board tariffs, but stated that the benefits might outweigh the costs.

"Vance stated in an August interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that any losses in tariffs from a consumer's perspective are offset by higher wages, resulting in overall improvement in one's financial situation."

Numerous economists, Wall Street analysts, and researchers have cautioned that Trump's second-term plans could increase the federal deficit and raise consumer prices.

Kamala Harris has used criticism of Trump's tariff proposal to label it the "Trump sales tax."

Some Trump allies are employing a strategy to deflect criticism: sacrificing short-term pain for long-term benefits.

The Trump campaign rejected the notion that his policy proposals would bring short-term pain and instead punted the possibility of economic danger onto their Democratic opponent in response to CNBC's request for comment on the Trump surrogates' recent remarks.

CNBC reported that Brian Hughes, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign, stated that the only pain Americans would experience would be four more years of Kamala's unsuccessful economic policies.

The Republican National Committee spokesperson Anna Kelly reiterated Hughes' statement, saying: "Harris is unable to maintain consistency in her narrative, but the truth remains: Harris has consistently opposed tariffs because she cannot be trusted to prioritize workers' interests."