America

Table of Contents

TODO

  1. Why US Power Bills Are Surging

Tags

  1. We’re All Soviets Now
  2. How America’s Elites Lost Their Grip
  3. Russian-Style Kleptocracy Is Infiltrating America
  4. The American Dream Is Killing Us
  5. The 9.9 percent is the New American Aristocracy
  6. Corporate Socialism: The Government is Bailing Out Investors and Managers Not You
  7. Americas monopoly problem, explained by your internet bill
  8. The Unraveling of America

What’s All This About Tariffs, Now?

November 15, 2024

On the campaign trail this year, President-elect Donald Trump stated that “Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented.”

He promised to place tariffs of up to 20% on goods from some countries. He floated the idea of a 60% tariff on imports from China.

And he mentioned a 200% tariff on Chinese cars imported to the U.S. through Mexico. (It’s worth noting that President Biden has also embraced tariffs).

Which begs the question: What is a tariff, anyway?

Simply put: It’s a tax imposed on imported goods — usually to protect local industries and raise revenue for the government. It makes foreign products more expensive, which influences what people buy.

Though many economists doubt the efficacy of tariffs, conceptually, there are potential benefits. They make imported goods more expensive, a potential boon for U.S. businesses. They also bring in revenue for the government to use for public services and projects.

And, as Trump has emphasized, they can be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations — encouraging companies to invest in the U.S. or forcing countries to lower their own tariffs or change policies.

On the other hand, tariffs make imported goods more expensive, which can limit product variety and availability (which typically hits lower-income consumers the hardest).

Other countries often respond to tariffs by imposing their own, which can lead to a trade war that damages both economies (with consumers ultimately paying the price).

And they can have a distorting effect on markets; by protecting U.S. industries from competition, tariffs can make them less efficient and innovative in the long run.

So what? Whether economists like them or not, the U.S. government has deployed tariffs for decades. And it seems likely that the second Trump administration plans to take them to the next level. Whether the benefits will outweigh the costs remains to be seen.

  1. Tariff Tracker: Tracking the Economic Impact of the Trump-Biden Tariffs – The Tax Foundation: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/tariffs/
  2. What Are Tariffs? – The Council on Foreign Relations: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-are-tariffs

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