A new report has just declared that the cost to each American family for the trade war’s tariffs will be about $2000. The tariffs could add up to a substantial tax hike on the American consumer.
Although we’ve been warning that this would happen, the $2000 number still shocked us. All available evidence so far suggests it is American businesses and consumers — not the Chinese — who are footing the bill and paying for Trump’s tariffs. According to a report by Politico, if the president moves ahead with 25 percent tariffs on EVERYTHING China exports to the United States, it could amount to a tax hike of more than $2,000 on the average American family, negating any reduction they may have gotten from Trump’s signature legislative achievement: the tax law of 2017.
“It’s sort of like when you have a bad leak in a boat and you are trying to plug it up,” said Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at Standard & Poor’s, of efforts to ease the pain of a trade war. “Water is going to win every time. The impacts from the trade dispute with China, especially if it snowballs from here, are going to be felt and there is going to be a lot of pain. And I don’t think the federal government can catch up to it.”
The pain will be felt most acutely by lower-income voters who rely on cheap imports and Midwestern farmers who make up critical slices of Trump’s political base and will help decide the outcome of the 2020 election. With 78% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, a $2000 hike in the price of goods leaves far too many in a worse economic situation.
“The strong conclusion is that so far, U.S. consumers have borne substantially all of the tariff increase,” Deutsche Bank chief economist Michael Spencer wrote in a recent note analyzing available data. The Commerce Department last week said retail sales dropped 0.2 percent in April as consumers reduced spending on clothing, appliances and other items, a potentially worrying signal for a U.S. economy driven mostly by domestic consumption.
https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/economy-alert-retail-sales-and-industrial-production-slump-in-april_05152019
Cars are already filling up what used to be empty parking lots of closed retail stores, and with an additional tariff on metals and vehicles, the auto industry could very well be in a downward spiral not yet evident to those who never scratch the surface.
If American consumers begin to feel the pinch in their wallets, the trade war will become a bone of contention hurting Trump’s chance of reelection.
Tariffs are a tax, that is why only Congress can authorize them and Congress has authorized hundreds of them. With the exception of tariffs to protect stuff required for national security, which Congress authorized the executive branch to apply, all tariffs come from Congress, not Trump.
I’ve evaluated my budget, and I have a budget, I keep on eye on my spending as I’m on a fixed income. I really don’t buy that much crap from China. The boots I wear come from Bangladesh, my shirts from Vietnam, my rebuilt car parts from Mexico. My truck( Mazda) was assembled in New Jersey, my wife’s car(VW) was assembled in Brazil. Parts for both vehicles came mostly from America, Brazil, Japan, and Germany.
None of my food comes from China, none of my fuel comes from China, none of my hardware and building materials come from China. As far as I can tell the only things I buy from China are all optional items, that I already can buy elsewhere, albeit at a slightly higher cost.
I agree that Tariffs are a pain in the butt, but it is Congress to blame not Trump, he is just exercising laws already passed.
“A new report has just declared that the cost to each American family for the trade war’s tariffs will be about $2000.”
BULLSHIT.
The study is predicated upon American Consumers continuing to buy the products made in China which are subject to Tariffs. That is not how human behavior works. Shoppers always look for a better bargin.
The Economic Principle of Substitution will apply and prevail: most American Consumers will buy a comparable product made somewhere else in the world; say South Korea, Italy, Brazil, Japan, or a hundred other places. High end products like I-Phones and computer chips will be produced in the United States again.
American companies are ALREADY scouting locations at home and abroad for the construction of new factories. Most recently a new EV start up chose Ohio to produce its electric cars. Why didn’t they choose China with so many more potential consumers and EV government mandates that make the incentives from the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia pale by comparison ???
At the same time advances in robotics & AI, coupled with the TRUMP TAX POLICY, makes building new factories and refurbishing older plants in America the best economic advantage.
Now that American companies recognize that the Trade War is real and that China will not relinguish its unfair advantages or eliminate their own barriers to American companies & products, while stealing American Technology, American companies will build some factories in South America, Central America, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Mexico, the Phillipines, and even Africa to produce tennis shoes, vitamins, furniture, chemicals, and other consumer goods. The USA does not buy any food from China.
The result will be the redistribution of World Trade and Production from China to the USA and other Second & Third World nations willing to play by the Rules.
This is a game China and the NWO Vested Interests cannot win. China & the NWO needed another decade to impose their will upon the world. Their lack of patience & TRUMP is their undoing.
BTW, there was no mention in this article about the harm caused by the NWO upon American Families when 70,000 factories and tens of millions of American jobs were systematically offshored to China. The results of that experiment had a real cost which is visible in America today with the massive rise in homelessness and the growth of student loan debt for an education for which the jobs were transferred overseas !!!
One more critical point: What is the source of lamentation for the American Consumer cited for these studies and “analyses” ???
The NWO Bankers. Can you say FAKE NEWS ??? Can you say, BULLSHIT ??? 🙂
Even if this article were accurate, $2000 is pittance compared to the personal debt that undisciplined compulsive morons put themselves in. I love fear porn, especially the dishonest kind.
DK, thanks for the post! I think you hit the nail squarely on its head. Mac has railed against the wealth transfer to China for years and then turns around and is seemingly railing against the tariffs. We finally have a president putting America first. Pick a side Mac,,, you cant have it both ways.
I’m still awaiting the $100 Avocado Disaster.
Oh wait, we resolved the trade dispute with Mexico and Canada using tariffs?
Guess its back to regular price.
-durangokidd, well said. If Americans would commit to buying absolutely nothing from China there would be NO imports from China. Who would send goods they knew no one would buy. You can’t get Americans to join together to do anything that might actually benefit this country. Look at the labels on your over-the-counter drugs and vitamins……made in China. Do you really want to put that product into your body? Still finding toys made in China with lead paint; who knows if they also still use lead in the process of making dishes? 99% of dishes sold in Walmart and Dollar stores made in China. The trade with China has always been very lop sided with the USA getting the short end of the stick! Time for Americans to refuse to buy “made in China” products……for your own good in more ways than you know.
Sorry but facts are pesky things.
TRUMP Tweet on December 4, 2018:
“I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN”
Trump is ‘The Tariff Man’.
I just got in from shopping at Harbor Freight Tool. Trying to get what I need and think I might need in the future. For instance , the blue, big foot , hand trucks were priced at $ 39.00 . Now they are $ 59.00 . H/F is changing name of manufacturers and color on their electrical tools ,same tools just a different name and jumping up prices like crazy. One of the employees I know said we ain’t seen nothing yet. I am also getting everything I might need from Amazon now.
Tariffs? What about the weather engineering destroying crops, killing calves, etc??
THIS is what we talked about for years–it’s here, folks. Do you have years of food and supplies till we kill all the lawyers/politicians/congresspeople??
Wait–there’s a black SUV in the drive..be right back.
I have avoided buying anything from China for some time now. Most of it is little more than landfill which our country needs less of anyway. The things I purchase are goods designed to last a while which means it costs a bit more. People–even friends–thought I was being silly since I’ve never had a lot of cash to toss around but when their junk broke guess who they called. Good quality items will outlast most cheap items many times over. I say ‘most’ because now and then there is that one thing that just won’t break though it should have. 🙂
My problem is fabric because I like to sew. I will stock up on certain types such as sturdy yard goods for pants or outdoor-wear. I think I’m okay on hand tools for various uses indoors and out but will do a check. Most other things there are either other ways to get it done or other places that make what you need. Like many others on this board, my income must be carefully managed.
I wonder how well China will do with the tariffs situation. They’ve relied on USA as their cash cow for quite a while. Also, they have lost some market shares to Viet Nam, Bangladesh, and others around the globe.
This crap started years ago with free trade and NAFTA etc. Out politicians sold us out years ago (especially the democrats) with sweet “cheap” Chinese crap, all the while taking American jobs.
Did we not really think that all this would not catch up eventually. It’s been costing us for so long we’ve forgotten what it was like not to be Chinese slaves.
By the way, the Chinese people are willing to pay the price for their dear leader or whatever the crap they call him because they have no choice!
If Americans can ever pull our collective heads out of our asses and decide what gender we are, and which bathroom to use, and important stuff like that. Maybe we can wake up to the fact that we had better either get serious with the Chinese threat or learn to speak Mandarin.
I buy Chinese stuff. The quality has really improved. I don’t care about who made it as long as it’s cheap and hold up. If you shop at harbor freight your buying Chinese stuff. I don’t care what drumpf says china has not hurt me it’s helped. I don’t work in manufacturing so I never lost my job. Name brands don’t mean quality. You have to look at the materials and construction to determine quality. I’ve learned that you don’t always have to pay a lot to get quality but you do to get brand name. Bass pro walmart and most of your stores sell china made stuff. Support of trumps tariffs is saying your ok to pay a hidden tax in the form of inflation. Trump knows we consumers are gonna pay he couldn’t tax us more that wouldn’t help his re election. Guarantee we will be in a war before the election too. Can’t believe people fall for trumps phony bullshit. The guy is a con man and actor.
Can’t believe almost half the country fell for Hillary’s phony bullshit either. Words that come to mind to describe her: psychopath, lunatic, rabble rouser, murderer…
Has anyone ever seen a war that doesn’t hurt.
NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!!!!!
Sgt.
Sgt., 100% of the Americans have seen many wars. Yet a whopping 85% of Americans have never seen the US military win one.
Dumbed-down indoctrinated Americans think China is dumb. As Gerald Celente stated, ‘The business of China is business. The business of America is war’. Search Shanghai shipping port and you will see thousands of CONEX shipping containers full of exports. Search American ports and you’ll see tanks and Humvees.
Trumps is bleeding out America with wars and tariffs, just like his elites handlers have instructed him.
The tariffs are speeding things up but not changing the direction. We’ve been buying a lot more from other countries than they have been buying from us. This couldn’t go on forever. What’s made it work as long as it has has been the role of the dollar as the reserve currency. The more you know about what’s happening, the more concerned you get.
Horse crap, Don’t buy Chinese crap problem solved!
Chinese crap? Like the Made-in-China computer and modem that your message was sent from.
In related news:
http://www.farmaid.org/blog/trump-doj-greenlights-the-bayer-monsanto-merger-in-another-blow-to-family-farmers/
althealthworks.com/17296/a-travesty-for-our-nations-wildlife-former-monsanto-executive-appointed-by-trump-to-lead-prominent-u-s-wildlife-position/
money.cnn.com/2017/01/17/investing/monsanto-bayer-trump-jobs/index.html
http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/new-trump-appointment-could-be-major-positive-for-monsanto-and-bayer-heres-why/
Bullshit article. Buy quality once, cry once. Fuck cheap Chinese shit you have to buy every 3 months or every year!
When I got married I told my wife I was in the tool of the month club. I bought a new quality tool every month. It was a joke, but not far from the truth. I have the tools to to handle most anything.
At this point be it cheap Chinese or better quality, I’m well situated/ prepped regarding tools. In today’s stores you will be hard pressed to find anything not made in China.
When I was a kid Mom taught me to darn my socks, like everyone else I just buy more China made socks instead, but I still have this skill, and I bought a huge spool of sock yarn for my preps for that day.
Have a bolt or two of fabric too, it you don’t know how to sew, it can also be sold/ bartered by the yard for food. Much safer than bartering ammunition. Decades ago singer sewing machines were converted to electric. In a SHTF situation, current electric sewing machines could easily be converted back to treadle power.
There is never any reason to be bored.
Well I live in New York State in wooded country close to NYC I have most preps. When the SHTF I intend just taking what I need from Dicks Sporting goods for anything I need with my AR15 and 45 sidearm. After all they will be unarmed.
For 30 years most of my liberal neighbors they have despised me based on my republican political views and I have always killed them with kindness in return.
When my neighbors come running to me for preps, food and water I’ll tell them the story about the ant and the grasshopper. They can pound sand.
Mr. Bob, so your Survival Plan A is looting. Yea like that’s worked out well in history.
It has been my experience, when trying to sell something at a reasonable price, that one or two people will be combative. There is adrenaline in the air. (Imagine the illustration of the Chinese flag, printed, on the fist.) Eventually, many more people will come and accept what was a fair offer. (Where are all the different flags, ready to make a hand shake.)
It was never economical, to do business with China. It was used as a cover story, to exchange subsidies, back-and-forth. This was makework funded by the govt. The final product being besides the point. Free, cheap, branded, vendor garbage is usually called swag, in any other context. Like a bumper sticker, the free hat, or a Cracker Jack prize. You’re arguing over nothing.
Oh No!
We can’t have any inconvenience.
Let the Chinese win so we can buy more cheap shit.
Thanks for warning us Mac.