“The tariffs have hit them [China] very hard. In a fairly short period of time, the United States will have collected over $100 billion in tariffs.”
As we have repeatedly noted, U.S. tariffs are a tax on the American people, not China. The tariffs are generally paid by importers, such as U.S. companies, who in turn pass on most or all of the costs to consumers or producers who may use Chinese materials in their products. (Technically, we should note that as a matter of demand and supply elasticities, Chinese producers will pay part of the tax if there are fewer goods sold to the United States.)
Numerous economic studies have found that the tariffs are costing American households hundreds of dollars a year. Moreover, China has retaliated by hiking duties on U.S. exports, costing the U.S. the equivalent of about $40 billion a year in lost exports. That’s why Trump has already spent $28 billion to bail out farmers who have lost access to Chinese markets.
View the complete August 27 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.