As President Donald Trump's new tariffs are set to take effect on Friday, former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele is setting the record straight on what they actually mean for American consumers.

On Thursday, Steele began a segment about Trump's newest round of import duties by clarifying to viewers that they are ultimately going to be shouldered by Americans buying groceries, electronics and other consumer goods. He specifically noted that the "deals" Trump has announced with other countries are "broad agreements" that aren't legally binding.

"There are no deals here, America! This is just a tax hike on your bank account. Period," Steele said. "Because whether it's 15%, 10%, 41%, 2%? You're paying that!"

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The former Republican went on to lament that mainstream journalists weren't giving the full context of Trump's gradual hiking of tariffs since his second term began, characterizing the media's response as: "Oh my God, this is so much better than it would have been."

"No! It's still money out of Americans' pockets," Steele insisted. "I'll give you a good example: Donald Trump started at one point, talking about in July with the [European Union], a 15% tariff before the supposed 'deal' that they just came up with. Now it's 30%. Who's paying that?"

"And why are we acting like we're going to get some better deal here? You're not," he added. "I mean, this is this is an arcane approach to our economics ... Y'all keep on acting stupid about this stuff and pretending that this is somehow better because it's only 15%. What the hell are we doing?"

Beginning on August 1, every country that has not agreed to a trade framework with the U.S. will be subjected to an additional 10% tariff. Certain countries have been given exceptions, with Mexico having an additional 90 days to negotiate with the United States. China has an August 12 deadline under its own negotiations. Meanwhile, some companies have praised Trump's tariffs as giving them "cover" to hike prices further to pad profits.

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Watch the video of Steele's comments below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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