The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Washington Post website August 5, 2018:
During his last news conference at the G-7 summit, President Trump told reporters that countries who retaliate against U.S. trade policy are “making a mistake.” (The Washington Post)
President Trump tweeted Sunday morning that his tariffs are “working big time” and made a bizarre claim that the money raised from these new import taxes will go a long way to helping pay down America’s large debt. (Short answer: That’s not what will happen).
Trump portrays the tariffs as a tax on foreigners, but the reality is that tariffs are taxes on U.S. companies and consumers. When a big U.S. retail chain or an equipment manufacturer has to pay 10 or 25 percent more to get steel from Canada or a certain part from China, that U.S. company has to pay the taxwhen it imports that item. U.S. businesses either eat that extra cost or pass it along to consumers.
There are already signs that prices are rising because of Trump’s tariffs. Coca-Cola is raising prices on its drinksbecause his aluminum tariffs are making its cans more expensive, the company says. Winnebago, maker of RVs, also has raised some of its prices, blaming higher steel and aluminum costs. Over time, U.S. companies are likely to switch suppliers or change their products to use less of the higher-costing goods, but that doesn’t happen right away.