With President Trump’s decision to raise tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods, American families are about to feel the pinch in their pocketbooks. The average American household is expected to spend about $1,000 more each year once these tariffs go into effect. Existing tariff rates are going to rise from 25% to 30%, while new tariffs going into effect in December will now rise from 10% to 15%.
That increased cost means that many households will have to start pinching pennies and reducing purchases elsewhere. Not only does that make them worse off, it makes the businesses whose products they otherwise would have purchased worse off too. It isn’t as though there are American companies jumping in to produce cheap goods to compete with the Chinese. China has the market for cheap goods cornered, so tariffs just increase costs to American households without really benefiting American business.
Even those businesses that may see a boost to their bottom line likely won’t see too much of a boost since American households will be paying so much more out of pocket for the goods they’re already used to buying. In short, expect your cost of living to keep increasing once these tariffs take full effect.
The latest tariff move isn’t something that American households will be looking forward to, as many Americans are already heavily indebted, living from paycheck to paycheck, and increasingly unable to afford the costs of everyday life. Most Americans don’t even have enough money saved to be able to afford a $400 emergency, yet now they’re expected to foot the bill for an extra $1,000 in spending each year.
Like many other wars before it, the trade war with China was touted as a winnable one, and one that would be won in short order. Yet now that it is growing increasingly protracted, and now that the Chinese are showing no signs of coming to the bargaining table, like those other wars it’s looking to be a very bad deal indeed for the American people.