Are Americans Ready to be Test Subjects for How Much Tariffs Will Raise Prices?

Donald Trump is dangerous in so many ways. Nearly half of Trump’s cabinet have refused to endorse him. Former four-star Marine general and former Trump chief of staff has said Donald Trump fits the definition of a fascist and that he “prefers the dictator approach to government.” Retired Gen. Mark Milley agreed Trump is “fascist to the core,” and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has also said he believes Trump fits the fascist label.

He regularly brags about how he will go after the enemy within — a statement taken straight from Nazi propaganda — and use the power of the United States military against U.S. citizens. He has already complained to aides that he can’t just shoot protestors, so there is no telling what he would do without guardrails.

Supporters dismiss these threats because he’s attacking the people they also hate. But they will be unable to escape the threat he poses to the U.S. economy.

Donald Trump does not even try to hide his disdain for workers. He has bragged about union busting and about not paying overtime. His business model includes stiffing contractors. His plans would destroy the social safety net upon which some of his supporters rely. He would make it harder to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and roll back rules that would increase benefits to cover rising food costs.

Throughout his ramblings, the one thing Donald Trump repeatedly turns to is his love of tariffs. Depending on his mood, he throws out numbers ranging from 20 percent to 200 percent to 1000 percent. However, this is a rare area where his ramblings are backed by an actual proposal: an across-the-board tariff on all goods entering the United States ranging from 10 to 60 percent.

Donald Trump repeatedly states that foreign companies will pay these tariffs. But that is simply not true. Donald Trump does not understand how tariffs work. United States companies and American consumers pay tariffs through higher prices.

A tariff is levied on U.S. imports. That means the importer — the U.S. company — pays the additional cost. When costs increase for American companies, they can do a few things: fire workers, raise prices, put off improvements and investments, or lower pay. All of these things negatively affect the American worker and consumer.

Both liberal and conservative economists agree the most likely outcome would be higher prices for consumers. Even notable liberal squish Rand Paul says of tariffs, “In practice, they hurt the workers they purport to help.”  Here’s how:

• Tariffs would lower the average after-tax incomes of US households within a year by 1.8 percent
• According to and average of five separate analyses, Donald Trump’s tariffs would cost every American household an average of $4000.
• Studies of the plan have estimated that it could cause inflation to rise between three and six percentage points. That would put inflation at between six percent and 9.3 percent — almost as high as it was during the worst of the post-pandemic inflation.
• Tariffs would cause a contraction that would lower GDP and cause up to 70,000 fewer jobs to be created every month.

Donald Trump wants to take us back to high inflation and job losses because he doesn’t understand how the global economy works. He can’t be allowed four more years as president.