Can America tough it through the tariffs?

The tariffs implemented by the Trump Administration are trying to repair America’s economy, but they’re not working sufficiently enough to fix the problem

By Jake Boyette

In April, President Trump announced a national emergency to protect the American economy by imposing tariffs on other countries using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, according to the White House.  

This included a flat 10% tariff on all countries, with other countries like China receiving a 145% tariff on almost all Chinese goods, according to the BBC, which has only recently decreased to 30%. 

This was done to combat America’s trade deficit and to bring back manufacturing jobs that have been steadily declining since the 1980s, according to Marketplace. America does have an issue with unemployment, as 7.2 million people are unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many want jobs to return to America after being shipped overseas to other countries. 

However, while the tariffs have helped slow inflation, according to USA Today. There is no hope they will bring jobs back or address the trade deficit, which occurs when a country imports more goods than it exports. The tariffs so far have been detrimental to the American economy, and ultimately we don’t need them to survive. 

Despite temporarily decreasing the tariffs to China, according to NBC News, the tariffs are already causing price hikes in consumer goods. The tariffs have hit everything from mattresses, strollers and power tools, increasing in price as sellers raise prices in response to the fluctuating tariffs, according to CNN. 

The tariffs are also increasing the price of electronic consumables, with the prices of gaming consoles like the Xbox Series X, games and even controllers being raised due to uncertainties about the tariffs’ effects, according to The Verge. 

Some of the tariffs are nonsensical like the 100% tariffs put on movies produced outside of the U.S. This is to support the U.S film industry by keeping producers in America. However, the tariffs will only put strain on foreign movies trying to find an audience in America. 

This also harms U.S. filmmakers, as they shoot films all over the world and with the tariffs, it would make filming more expensive for them in other countries, according to Katie Couric Media. The tariffs aren’t just impacting major industries as they’re also impacting the everyday lives of Americans. 

Cost increases are hitting Americans hard when they don’t have to. Average American household costs are expected to rise by over $2,000, which would have been over $3,000 if the tariffs weren’t temporarily decreased, according to Denver 7.  

Inflation has already raised the price of goods in America by 26%, according to Nerdwallet, and with Americans struggling to deal with the rising costs, the tariffs only serve to hurt the average wallet. 

These rising prices could be justifiable if the tariffs decreased the trade deficit or brought back manufacturing jobs, but there’s no evidence they will. 

Higher tariffs don’t lower trade deficits at all. The countries with the highest tariffs are developing economies. However, with tariffs as high as 30%, it hasn’t helped these countries cut their own deficits, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Even with some estimates that tariffs could in the short term shrink the deficit, there is no evidence that they will remove it. 

There is no direct evidence that tariffs bring jobs back to America. When Trump placed import tariffs in 2018 and 2019, they neither raised nor lowered the number of jobs in the country, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

Right now, the tariffs are harming manufacturing jobs. Companies like Blackmagic Design, an Australian-based digital cinematography company, have increased the prices of their cameras, with their Pyxis 12 model increasing from $4,995 to $5,500. The company also worries about its U.S. factory, which is being built in Dallas, Texas, as it would be hit by tariffs on the parts exported into the U.S., according to The Verge. 

The tariffs levied on America’s neighbors, Canada and Mexico, have also cost the U.S. in retaliatory tariffs. These retaliatory tariffs harm the exports from American businesses, harming the manufacturing and distribution of U.S. plants, like Detroit’s auto plants that export cars to both countries, according to Michigan Advance. 

These decisions are also hurting our allies as Japan has suffered the most from the tariffs. Japan exports steel and auto parts to the U.S. and Japanese leaders have scrambled to assist Japanese firms, with the prime minister calling the tariffs a national crisis, according to Brookings. 

Retaliatory tariffs have already been imposed, but the deeper effect is that U.S. allies now doubt their reliance on the U.S., according to The New York Times. America is straining its relations, making it difficult for our allies to ever trust a trade partner who can hit them with tariffs at any moment. 

Not all tariffs harm economies as they serve essential roles in economic trade, but the tariffs implemented by the Trump Administration only seem to be harming the country.  

The solution to bringing back American jobs and supporting American industries doesn’t come from these tariffs, instead it should come from state leadership. Governors like Gavin Newsom in California offered to collaborate with President Trump to help the American film industry with $7.5 billion in incentives, according to NPR. 

Solutions for bringing back manufacturing jobs to America lie in these incentives. Under the Biden Administration, federal incentives to factory projects helped bring in over 700,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. 

The tariff pause is already helping alleviate some of the issues, with the Dow Jones jumping nearly 1000 points, according to CBS News. Still, the harm was already done, and there is no way of knowing if the trade negotiations will result in balanced outcomes. 

America does need change to bring jobs back into the U.S., but the tariffs won’t be able to do it. 

What can be done now is to advocate for a reversal of the tariffs. Several U.S. senators have already called for a full repeal of the trade, as well as restoring congressional control over trade authority, according to the United States Senate Committee on Finance.