Who pays Trump’s tariffs?
President Donald Trump is celebrating “billions rolling in” through his tariffs, but who pays the tariffs? Here’s what Trump has said.
Jan. 24 — “We have billions of dollars coming into our Treasury — billions — from China. We never had 10 cents coming into our Treasury; now we have billions coming in.”
May 5 — “For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA.”
That’s not true.
The importer in this country pays the tariff at a port of entry, collected by Customs and assisted by Border Protection agents. The country of origin (exporter) pays nothing.
U.S. importers (buyers) of coffee from Brazil will now pay a 50% tariff. Instead of a $1,000 shipment, coffee companies/shops will pay $1,500. Pharmaceuticals from Switzerland (a major pharma exporter) will cost U.S. hospital suppliers 39% more.
Despite Trump saying his tariffs will help U.S. manufacturers, car companies in this country have paid $11.7 billion in tariffs this last quarter.
Trump’s “billions of dollars coming into our Treasury” were paid by U.S. enterprises. To maintain profit margins, many will increase what they charge for their imported products. These costs will trickle down to local shopkeepers, who are very fearful of that reality.
It’s likely that the billions coming to the Treasury are intended to help make up for the trillions lost through tax cuts for the highest tax-bracket people.
In all the tariff chaos, it’s easy to forget that Congress is in charge of setting tariffs. Not the president. Our Founding Fathers set up a three-way separation of powers to avoid any one from taking over, destroying our Constitution’s wise blueprint in the process.
We The People, overwhelmed by the barrage against what really makes America great, are letting it happen.
Francie Von Mertens
Peterborough