On Tuesday, Feb. 4, imported goods from China to the United States raised in prices by 10% because of tariffs Donald Trump has set against China. Trump also proposed the idea to Canada to raise a 25% increase on imported goods, but on Feb 4, the tariff raise was paused for 30 days (a month). According to BBC News, it was due to indications of the United States and Canada “working together to figure it out”. Since Canada wanted vengeance from the United States for the tariffs, Canada wanted a 25% tariff on 155 billion Canadian dollars worth of United States imported goods. This was also paused again, due to Canada and the United States “working together to figure it out”. Donald Trump proposed for Mexico to have a 25% tariff. This was also delayed for a month.
The reason Trump wants to use tariffs is because of the fentanyl issue, and how dramatically the flow increased into the United States from smuggling it into the U.S. during migration. Mexico, the reason they paused the tariff increase was because the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, agreed to send 10,000 National Guard members to the U.S. and Mexican border. For Canada to pause tariffs, Canada had to put into effect a $1.3 billion border plan, “new choppers, and other technology to the borders”, and “ increase the resources to stop fentanyl flow.”
United States citizens will be affected by these tariffs because the buyers/consumers are the ones paying for the tariffs on exported and imported goods. Tariffs will also cause inflation of prices. Let’s use the 10% tariff from the United States on China. If the product costs ten dollars, then it would now have a one-dollar increase. Tariff means taxes on imported goods from different countries.
The United States gets a lot of different kinds of goods from China. According to National Public Radio’s website, Trump’s tariffs against China could be worth up to $450 billion worth of imports. The United States gets a lot of different types of imports from China. These imports include toys, cars, footwear, and even different types of gaming consoles, and even different electronics. Electronics include every Apple product produced and made in China.
The cost of production from U.S. goods will also go up from these different tariffs, so the tariffs towards China wouldn’t just affect China. According to The Tax Foundation, the tariffs alone on China will add up to $172 to the tax burden per United States household. Mexico and Canada are two of the largest trading partners with the United States. With tariffs, the company isn’t just going to pay the taxes themselves. The consumers/buyers are the ones actually paying the tariffs.
