A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country, customs territory or by a supranational union, on imported goods. The big question is: How will they impact the United States?
The recent tariffs introduced by President Trump have had consequences that reach many aspects of the economy and daily life.
“The more [you] pay to get [your] goods, the more [you] have to sell the goods in order to make more,” said Jeff Gordon, an economics teacher at Liberty.
For high school students, these policies translate into tangible objects, including increased costs for educational materials and potential resource limitations.
“There’s a time to tariff. It’s usually political pressure when you want a country to change some law, rights or when they’re at war. Historically, tariffs are an economic tool that can hurt the economy,” said Gordon.
Regarding politics, the United States and China are at the front of this trade war. The U.S. has put very high taxes on goods coming from China, over 100% in some cases. This means Chinese imported products are much more expensive when they arrive in the U.S.
The goal is to protect American businesses and reduce how much the U.S. depends on internationally imported products.
In response, China has also raised its taxes on American goods to 84% on some items.
China has made it harder for American companies to do business there by increasing regulations and launching investigations.
U.S. leaders say they are open to creating a new trade deal if China removes its tariffs in return.
According to BBC News, Donald Trump has expressed that tariffs on other countries will help grow America’s economy. President Trump claims they will encourage U.S. consumers to buy more American-made goods, increase the amount of tax raised and lead to huge levels of investment in the country.
One of Donald Trump’s prominent campaign promises was that he would restore the United States economy by lowering the prices of groceries and decreasing taxes for Americans.
The general tariffs took effect during April. While the tariffs are fairly recent, only time will tell what the future has in store for the United States economy.
This information is up to date as of April 9th at 2:30 PM. This situation is ongoing and subject to change.
