Tariffs on outsourcing? Trump advisor Navarro puts issue into focus as US tech workers cheer

Donald Trump's advisor and tariff expert, Peter Navarro recently reposted a demand that tariffs should apply to foreign remote workers and outsourcing.

President Donald Trump's advisor and tariff advocate Peter Navarro reposted a call for tariffs on outsourcing on social media platform X, spotlighting the idea.

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro. (REUTERS)

The post, originally made on September 1 by right-wing activist and former US Navy intelligence officer Jack Posobiec, argued that foreign remote workers and outsourcing should be subject to tariffs: “Countries must pay for the privilege of providing services remotely to the US the same way as goods. Apply across industries, leveled as necessary per country,” he wrote.

This comes amid Trump’s sweeping tariff measures, with India and Brazil facing some of the steepest rates, as high as 50 percent. Statista analysis showed that the US is a major player in the IT outsourcing market, with the highest revenue being generated there.

While it remains unclear whether services will actually enter the tariff crosshairs, many online are demanding just that. Tech workers, in particular, have cheered the notion that tariffs might target the Indian IT sector, while also calling for incentives to bolster US labor.

Many demand tariff outsourcing

One person, flagging US data that for the first time there are more unemployed Americans than job postings, said “We need to stop these Visa worker programs for the first time in forever there are more people seeking jobs than there are jobs available. We need to prioritize Americans for these positions. We need to tariff outsourcing to other countries. Let’s take America back.”

Meanwhile, another person wondered, "There is a LOT of "labor outsourcing" to India, like phone support and even engineering. Is there a Tariff on THAT kind of outsourcing, aka 'imported labor'???". Yet another added, “Tariff TF out of all outsourcing!”

Cheer among American tech workers

The news of possible tariffs on outsourcing also spread cheer among American tech workers, as seen on the r/AmericanTechWorkers subreddit.

"This will really help us out if it's true," a person remarked, while sharing the news. To this, another commented, “Offshoring is a far bigger threat than H-1B visas. The corporations can bypass our labor laws and just hire people straight from another country remotely. All while telling us we need to RTO or quit."

There are already three separate posts on the same subject on the subreddit, at the time of writing this. Another post on the matter had a person state “We have to keep pressure up, continue to drive awareness with facts-based arguments and good philosophy, and the political pressure will outweigh the foreign and corporate lobbies.”

One person chipped in, saying “Tax any and ever company that outsources employees to other countries such that the operation itself will be more expensive to conduct outside of the US and will be conducted ONLY if it its essential.” Yet another said, “Tax laws that incentivize US labor and disincentivize foreign labor.”

Tariffs on services: Easier said than done

Demands aside, it is actually tough to realistically tariff services. The International Chamber of Commerce notes that applying tariffs to services would not just be impractical, but it would also lead to legal, operational, and economic risks. In a report, the ICC noted, “…there is no clear moment when a service ‘enters’ a country, no global classification system comparable to the Harmonized System for goods, and no consistent method to assess what should be taxed.”