Donald Trump is still trying to tell Americans that his tariffs on China and Mexico are paid by those nations. Only a moron would believe that. Those tariffs are paid by American importers, and then passed on through higher prices to American consumers. In other words, it's a huge tax hike on Americans.
How big a tax hike is it? With only the 5% tariff on Mexico and the current tariff on China, it would be the largest tax hike on Americans in nearly three decades. And if the tariff on Mexico rises to 25%, as Trump proposed, it would be the largest tax hike on Americans in over five decades.
Here's how Zack Budryk describes the new tax on Americans in The Hill:
President Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexican imports – an effort to pressure the country to halt the flow of migrants from Central America – could constitute the biggest tax hike on American consumers in nearly three decades, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation. The 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods is set to take effect June 10 and steadily increase until it reaches 25 percent “unless and until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory,” according to a statement from the White House Thursday. Existing tariffs in place against Mexico would increase revenues by $69 billion, or about 0.32 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the right-leaning Tax Foundation. The 5 percent tariff would increase this figure to about 0.40 percent of GDP. Tax increases under then-President Bill Clinton in 1993 led to revenues of about 0.36 percent of GDP, according to the Tax Foundation. “The Tax Foundation model estimates that if the Trump administration imposes additional tariffs on automobiles and parts, additional tariffs on products from China, and tariffs on products from Mexico, GDP would fall by an additional 0.50 percent ($124.82 billion), resulting in 0.33 percent lower wages and 387,041 fewer full-time equivalent jobs,” the foundation states. The Tax Foundation’s estimates only apply to the initial 5 percent tariffs. If the White House makes good on its threats of 25 percent on all Chinese and Mexican imports, the revenues would reach 1.45 percent of GDP, a figure last reached after a 1968 tax increase, according to the Treasury Department.
