Donald Trump is dangerously close to becoming the first Republican president since George Bush snr to raise taxes.

According to the Tax Foundation, if the tariffs already announced by Trump go into effect, they will amount to a $US200 billion ($297 billion) annual tax increase. That's larger than the $US165 billion average annual reduction in 2017's Tax Cut and Jobs Act.

Bush's brazen break with Republican orthodoxy, along with a sluggish economy and broken promises, made him a one-term president. If Trump's not careful, he may join him.

Trump may be on the road to becoming a one-term president. Credit:AP

In his 1988 campaign, Bush famously asked the public to read his lips when he promised "no new taxes." While Bush had been Ronald Reagan's vice-president, he came from an earlier generation of moderate Republicans. Movement conservatives always had doubts about his fealty to their low-tax agenda.