'$12 more for toasters': Economist warns Trump tariff proposals will 'make us poorer'

07 November 2024

During her 2024 presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris warned that Donald Trump's tariff proposals, if implemented, would be quite inflationary and amount to a major "sales tax on the American people."

Regardless, President-elect Trump enjoyed a decisive victory on Election Night, winning Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and picking up at least 295 electoral votes. And Trump, according to vote counts, seemingly won the popular vote as well this time.

After being sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2025, Trump is likely to follow through on his tariff proposals. And Erica York, an economist at The Tax Foundation, is warning that prices will soar if that happens.

In a November 6 post on X, formerly Twitter, York explained, "Guess what happens when we have to pay $12 more for toasters and $14 more for tennis shoes and $120 more for mattresses because of import taxes? We have less $ leftover for everything else. Tariffs shrink after-tax incomes and make us poorer."

York, in a separate tweet, argued, "When the leading proponent of tariffs claims they are paid by China and don't hurt the U.S. economy, clarification is necessary. And they have differences, not addressed in my tweet, but tariffs can be more harmful because they invite foreign retaliation."

York tweeted a November 6 article by CBS News reporter Kate Gibson.

Gibson reported that in anticipation of new tariffs, "U.S. retailers that depend on foreign suppliers are prepared to pass along the cost of his proposed import tariffs to consumers, potentially leading to higher prices for a range of products."

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