It’s Low-Income Americans Who Suffer the Most in Trump’s Trade War
Rural Americans are especially vulnerable to tariffs
The U.S.-China trade war is escalating, and so far, nobody seems to be winning.
Last week, President Trump increased tariffs on certain goods imported from China from 10% to 25%, and his administration is also preparing to levy a 25% tax on all imported goods from the country. In response, China announced retaliatory tariffs on over 5,000 imported U.S. goods, including everything from honey to light fixtures to electronics. The escalation has financial markets and Republican senators up in arms, due especially to concerns over how the ongoing trade war will affect rural Americans in the agricultural sector.
Despite the turmoil, Trump continues to insist that the U.S. is winning the trade war, and that American farmers will soon reap the benefits of his hardball tactics. What’s more, Trump tweeted this week that there’s “no reason” that U.S. consumers will need to actually pay the tariffs; they can always just buy goods from “non-Tariffed” nations. But the president’s optimism is at odds even with many of his own advisers: Larry Kudlow, the director of Trump’s National Economic Council, said recently that “both sides” would suffer from the stalemate.
