The pain of Trump's tariffs is coming home to American shoppers
The office of the US trade representative announced that the US president had directed it to start the process of putting a new 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. They include (pdf) a long list of consumer goods, such as clothes, handbags, suitcases, makeup, dog collars, and human hair.
Until now, consumer goods had largely dodged the tariffs the US has recently hit China with, which focused more on industrial products such as machines and chemicals. These items are present among the new tariffs as well, but as Trump has sought to punish China for what he says are unfair trade practices, in particular its theft of American intellectual property, the back-and-forth trade attacks between the countries have led the US to expand its tariffs to new categories (paywall).
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The outcome of the new tariffs would be higher prices on those consumer goods listed for American shoppers, something that American brands and retailers selling those items have feared for months now. In March, more than 100 companies, including Nike, Walmart, and Levis, urged Trump not to put new duties on products coming from China, arguing they would hurt American consumers and businesses as they hiked up prices, while having no effect on Chinas attitude toward US intellectual property.
https://qz.com/1325820/trumps-new-china-tariffs-are-set-to-hit-american-shoppers/
Taxes slashed on corporations paid for by, in effect, a federal sales tax on everyone else.
tanyev
(42,354 posts)But the middle class' cost will rise greatly, it has already started.
AlexSFCA
(6,137 posts)even though most everything else is usually made in China.
ties or hats made in China?
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)That's what irks me the most about this asshole's trade policy: he launches a trade war against China with his right hand while his left hand is signing bills of lading for the crap he and his daughter are importing from China.