A new report found U.S. citizens would pay the most if President Trump continues to push for his 25% tariffs on China.
The president’s suggested tariffs would cost American families the equivalent of an over $2,000 tax hike, likely negating any money saved from Mr. Trump’s signature 2017 tax overhaul.
“It’s sort of like when you have a bad leak in a boat and you are trying to plug it up. Water is going to win every time. The impacts from the trade dispute with China, especially if it snowballs from here, are going to be felt and there is going to be a lot of pain. And I don’t think the federal government can catch up to it,” said Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at Standard & Poor’s in an interview with Politico.
While Mr. Trump has claimed China would feel the pinch because of the tariffs, analysts at Goldman Sachs noted that U.S. businesses and consumers would “entirely” bare the burden.
“The costs of U.S. tariffs have fallen entirely on U.S. businesses and households, with no clear reduction in the prices charged by Chinese exporters. Second, the effects of the tariffs have spilled over noticeably to the prices charged by U.S. producers competing with tariff-affected goods,” they said.
No new talks have been scheduled with China since the collapse of negotiations two weeks ago, and Mr. Trump is promising $15 billion in aid for U.S. farmers being targeted by Chinese tariffs on agricultural products.
The trade war reached a new level last week when Mr. Trump signed an executive order to block Chinese telecommunications companies from selling equipment in the U.S. China countered by announcing that it would raise tariffs to as high as 25% on more than 5,000 U.S. products starting June 1.
— Dave Boyer contributed to this article
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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