Economists, Democrats, and even Republicans have been warning that former President Donald Trump's plan to impose hefty tariffs on all imported goods if he's elected to office will raise prices across the board for consumers.
But now, companies are explicitly confirming that Trump's plan to charge 60% tariffs on Chinese goods, and between 10% and 20% tariffs on all other imported items would make them raise prices for you and your family.
“We’re set to raise prices,” Timothy Boyle, chief executive of Columbia Sportswear, told The Washington Post. “We’re buying stuff today for delivery next fall. So we’re just going to deal with it and we’ll just raise the prices. … It’s going to be very, very difficult to keep products affordable for Americans.”
Trump, who called himself the "tariff man," has been patting himself on the back for his idea to levy tariffs on all imports.
He has falsely claimed that China and other countries would pay the tariffs, which Trump would then use to pay for domestic priorities.
“Tariffs are taxes not on you by the way, the taxes are on other countries that have been ripping us off for years,” Trump said at a campaign rally on Oct. 26.
But it is not China and other countries that pay the tariffs, it's the companies that import the goods who pay. Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted as such.
“I’m not a fan of tariffs, they raise prices for American consumers. I’m more of a free trade kind of Republican that remembers how many jobs are created by the exports that we engage in,” McConnell said in September.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
And now companies are preemptively saying that Americans will feel pain if Trump follows through with his plan.
“If we get tariffs, we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer,” Philip Daniele, CEO of AutoZone, said on a company earnings call, according to The Washington Post. “We’ll generally raise prices ahead of—we know what the tariffs will be—we generally raise prices ahead of that.”
It's not just Trump's tariffs that would decimate the economy and raise prices. Experts say his morally abhorrent mass deportation proposal would also raise prices, as there would not be enough labor in the agricultural, construction, and hospitality sectors.
“Overall, mass deportation would lead to a loss of 4.2% to 6.8% of annual U.S. GDP, or $1.1 trillion to $1.7 trillion in 2022 dollars,” according to a report from the American Immigration Council, which found the proposal would have the most negative consequences in California, Florida, and Texas. “In comparison, the U.S. GDP shrunk by 4.3% during the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009.”
But while boneheaded Trump wrongly believes his economic policies would be beneficial to the country, cringeworthy right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, who is spending tens of millions to try to get Trump elected, confirmed that Trump's economic plan would bring pain to most Americans.
Musk responded to a post on X from a Trump supporter saying “Sounds about right” to the poster’s assessment that said Trump’s plans would lead to “an initial severe overreaction in the economy. … Markets will tumble. But when the storm passes and everyone realizes we are on sounder footing, there will be a rapid recovery to a healthier, sustainable economy.”
Vice President Kamala Harris warned Tuesday night at her massive rally on the White House Ellipse that Trump’s economic plans would be devastating.
Harris said: “Donald Trump’s answer to you is the same as before: another trillion dollars in tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations. And this time, he will pay for it with a 20% national sales tax on everything you buy that is imported—clothes, food, toys, cell phones. A Trump Sales Tax that would cost the average family nearly four thousand a year.”
She added, “Donald Trump will deliver tax cuts to his billionaire donors. I will deliver tax cuts to working people and the middle class.”
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