Trump’s proposed tariffs: What consumer products could be affected?

President-elect Trump Tariffs have been campaigned on as a tool to secure more favorable international trade terms and generate tax revenues, but they may affect the prices consumers pay for imported products.

Among the policies proposed by Trump are a comprehensive tariff of 10% or 20% on all goods imported into the United States, as well as a larger tariff of 60% on goods imported from China. He also said he would impose a 25% tariff on goods coming from Canada and Mexico. At a press conference on Monday, Trump and one of his nominees for a key Cabinet position indicated their desire Use definitions Securing mutual trade terms with other countries.

Commerce Secretary-designate Howard Lutnick spoke at a news conference Monday with President-elect Trump and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who announced that the Japan-based company will invest $100 billion in the United States. Lutnick responded to a journalist’s question about the incoming administration’s tariff plans and explained that Trump “has a very clear agenda on tariffs, and I think reciprocity is going to be a major theme for us. The way we’ve been treated is the way you should expect us to be.” “He was treated.”

Trump chimed in and said: “Tariffs — if used correctly, which we will — and practiced similarly with other countries, will make our country rich… I always say, for me, tariffs are the most beautiful word in the dictionary.”

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The president-elect also pushed back against concerns that tariffs would raise prices for consumers based on the experience of his first term, saying, “I didn’t have any inflation and I had huge tariffs on a lot of things.”

Uncertainty about how the tariffs will be implemented and their impact Import taxes These pressures on consumers are likely to continue until the new administration takes office on January 20, 2025, and begins to move forward with its preferred policies. Based on some of the policy proposals Trump made during the presidential campaign, trade experts believe there could be a significant impact on prices for consumers.

Clark Packard, a research fellow at the Herbert A. “Depending on the nature and the rate and how it’s structured, it could be very significant,” the Cato Institute’s Stifel Institute for Trade Policy Studies told FOX Business about the impact of tariffs on trade. Consumer prices. “He talked during his campaign about a 10% to 20% tariff on all imports, and then a special 60% tariff on imports from China. If that goes into effect, you know it will definitely cause consumer prices to rise.”

“I saw a study that showed the price of a laptop, for example, would go up by about $350 and a smartphone by about $200,” Packard said. “This assumes the full pass-through of the tariff cost to retail buyers, but much of the best economic research shows that about 90% of the tariff cost is passed on to consumers.”

Trump says he will issue an executive order imposing 25% tariffs on goods on Canada and Mexico when he takes office.

“Items like avocado, mango, etc. Fresh products Heavy imports from Mexico are highly vulnerable to tariffs. Geographic and environmental constraints make it difficult to shift production, and these tariffs will translate directly into higher prices for consumers in grocery stores.”

Durba added that the United States Imports pharmaceutical ingredients used in the production of everyday medicines from China and that tariffs on these imports “could increase drug costs for consumers and disrupt supply chains, creating ripple effects across the healthcare industry.”

He said that while a lot Clothes and shoes Brands have adopted a “China plus one” strategy to diversify production into countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia, and tariffs on China are likely to increase the costs of these goods for consumers.

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A similar dynamic has occurred with consumer electronics, such as laptops and smartphones, which may be vulnerable to price increases or delayed availability despite increased production, Durba added. Moving from China To countries such as India and Vietnam.

Packard also noted that imposing tariffs on imported goods would also have an impact on U.S. manufacturers and exporters, because foreign countries would likely impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports in response.

He explained that “40% to 50% of all imports are intermediate inputs that American companies use to make their products more competitive on the global level, and therefore when you start raising the prices of the inputs that American companies buy abroad, it will make the final product less competitive.” in global markets.”

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“When you impose tariffs, you’re going to see retaliation from foreign governments,” Packard explained. “So, not only are you a producer in the United States, and your prices have gone up because the prices of the goods you need have gone up, but you will see higher tariff barriers when you export the product as well.”