by Sharelle Burt
November 9, 2024
Do you think this is a good plan?
The alliance between U.S. retailers and foreign suppliers could potentially lead to higher prices for a range of products, thanks to Donald Trump's victory in the White House and his proposed import tariffs, CBS News reports.
In a report released November 4 by the National Retail Federation (NRF), American consumers can expect to lose between $46 billion and $78 billion in purchasing power on products such as clothing, toys, furniture, appliances, shoes, etc. due to travel goods tariffs will decrease in the next few years. Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president of supply chain and customs policy, released a statement explaining what a tariff is and how it impacts businesses. “A tariff is a tax paid by the U.S. importer, not by a foreign country or the exporter. This tax is ultimately funded through higher prices out of consumers’ pockets,” Gold said.
“Retailers rely heavily on imported products and manufacturing components to offer their customers a variety of products at affordable prices.”
Examples include a $50 pair of sneakers rising to prices between $59 and $64, or a $2,000 mattress and box spring set going for $2,190.
Imposing tariffs is not Trump's first proposal. During his first term, his administration sought tariffs of up to 25% on more than $360 billion worth of products from China. The Biden-Harris administration kept most of those tariffs in place and increased them on Chinese electric cars and microchips.
Under Trump and Vance's rule, the team plans to impose a 60% tax on goods made in China and a 10% to 20% levy on the $3 trillion in foreign goods the U.S. imports each year. During the campaign, Trump promised to reduce inflation, but US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that since the tariffs would be largely paid, they would only increase inflation. “A consistent theoretical and empirical finding in economics is that domestic consumers and domestic businesses bear the burden of a tariff, not foreign countries,” Yale University’s Budget Lab said in a mid-October 2024 analysis.
But Trump maintains that tariffs will benefit the U.S. economy in many ways, encouraging countries to negotiate more successful trade deals and preventing other countries from “dumping” their products at below-market prices in the U.S., according to USA Today. Another reason is to motivate nations to lower their tariffs on shipments from the US to their countries
The four-time criminally indicted president-elect has accused other countries of imposing far higher tariffs on imports than the United States and has also criticized trade agreements – such as NAFTA – that have led to more foreign imports into the country than U.S. exports to other countries Countries. In 2020, the Trump administration replaced NAFTA with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
It is currently unclear when and if the new administration will begin tightening tariffs, as the process requires a legislative increase in tariffs, which could take up to a year.
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