Close Menu
Influential MagazineInfluential Magazine
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest business and finance news for entrepreneurs all around the world.

What's Hot
Video: Toy Company Still In Crisis Despite Reduced Tariffs on China

Video: Toy Company Still In Crisis Despite Reduced Tariffs on China

May 27, 2025
Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

May 24, 2025
Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

May 22, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Influential MagazineInfluential Magazine
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Press Release
Influential MagazineInfluential Magazine
Home » Trump’s 10% Tariff May Be Less Onerous but Still Raises Prices and Threatens Trade

Trump’s 10% Tariff May Be Less Onerous but Still Raises Prices and Threatens Trade

April 16, 20255 Mins Read Business
Trump’s 10% Tariff May Be Less Onerous but Still Raises Prices and Threatens Trade
Share
Facebook Twitter Reddit Telegram Pinterest Email

When Donald J. Trump championed the idea of a 10 percent blanket tariff during the campaign, many people, whether for or against, were taken aback by how radical the idea was.

Alarms sounded about higher inflation, lost jobs, slower growth or recession. The prospect seemed so outlandish that most economists and Wall Street analysts who gamed out the possibilities tended to treat a 10 percent tariff simply as a bargaining tool.

Now, after a rapid-fire series of announcements from the White House that promised, imposed, reversed, delayed, decreased and increased tariffs, the 10 percent solution is looking like the most temperate choice rather than the most revolutionary, especially now that a red-hot trade war between China and the United States is blazing.

Yet 10 percent tariffs have not lost their sting.

At that level, universal tariffs still hit more than 10 times as many imports as the ones targeted during Mr. Trump’s first term, and are significantly higher and broader than anything the United States has tried in more than 90 years.

The tariff rate is “quite extreme,” said Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING, a Dutch bank. “It still brings us back to levels last seen during the 1930s.”

In addition to measures targeting China, Mr. Trump powered up a long list of punishing taxes — including a flat 10 percent tariff on most imports — on April 9.

“For the U.S. customer, it means everything is going to become more expensive,” Mr. Brzeski said.

Researchers have previously estimated that a 10 percent tariff would cost the average American household $1,700 to $2,350 more a year.

Switching to, say, a cheaper American brand of mustard instead of a French one may save a shopper less than hoped. When tariffs on a foreign good go up, domestic manufacturers can take the opportunity to raise their own prices, economists have found.

Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, said his team reworked its outlook the day after Mr. Trump’s election, assuming there would be a 10 percent across-the-board tariff as well as higher taxes on Chinese and automobile imports.

“It was extreme, but it wasn’t implausible,” Mr. Shearing said. Inflation would rise and output would drop, but the revision did not predict that the United States would plunge into a recession.

Still, the assumptions about tariff levels were considered radical at the time. “I spent two and a half months just talking to clients who said, ‘You can’t seriously think this is going to happen,’” Mr. Shearing said.

Today, with tariff policies threatening to upend the global economy, such a report would be greeted with relief.

Economists and policymakers are still rubbing their eyes in wonder that an American president single-handedly threw the world into such economic turmoil and then celebrated.

Consumer and business confidence has plunged. Uncertainty is paralyzing purchases, from a new home or car to a new factory. Investors have signaled their lack of faith in the U.S. economy by selling off Treasury bonds, the traditional haven when the outlook darkens.

Of course, the conflict between the United States, the world’s biggest consumer, and China, the world’s biggest manufacturer, is overshadowing other measures. Washington and Beijing have hit each other with triple-digit tariffs along with a raft of other trade restrictions on critical items like rare earth minerals, magnets and semiconductors.

Mr. Trump has talked of additional tariffs on chips and pharmaceuticals, while China and countries consider how to retaliate.

The total package of tariffs in effect so far could cause world trade to fall 5 percent this year, according to an estimate from Oxford Economics on Monday. That is comparable to what happened when the pandemic paralyzed commerce in 2020, or the world sank into a recession in 1975.

Such a drop in trade would remove billions of dollars’ worth of goods and services that the world produces, and slice projected overall growth by 1 percent, Oxford said.

China and the United States drive much of the global economy. If their fortunes suffer, so do the rest of the world’s, particularly poor and emerging economies, which will find less demand for their own goods and services.

African countries, for example, do not trade a lot with the United States, but they do sell important commodities like oil and copper. Those prices are dropping as fears of a worldwide recession grow. And that means an oil-exporting country like Nigeria is likely to earn less money, further squeezing government budgets and hampering its ability to repay debts.

A lot of the expected economic damage could have been avoided if the tariffs had not been rolled out in such a chaotic way. If there is a recession in the United States this year, Mr. Shearing of Capital Economics said, that bungled delivery could be what pushed it over the line.

Credits for the video images: Benoit Tessier/Reuters; Erik S. Lesser/EPA, via Shutterstock; Scott Olson and Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP, via Getty Images; Bryan Anselm, Lianne Milton and Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Customs (Tariff) Donald J International Trade and World Market Trump United States Economy United States International Relations
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Reddit Email
Previous ArticleA Reporter on Steak Fries: Tasty Spud or Dud?
Next Article Tariff Confusion and Recession Fears Leave Advertisers ‘Paralyzed’

Related Posts

Video: Toy Company Still In Crisis Despite Reduced Tariffs on China

Video: Toy Company Still In Crisis Despite Reduced Tariffs on China

May 27, 2025
Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

May 24, 2025
Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

May 22, 2025
Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

May 19, 2025
Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

May 17, 2025
Consumers Show Signs of Strain Amid Trump’s Tariff Rollout

Consumers Show Signs of Strain Amid Trump’s Tariff Rollout

May 15, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Demo
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Don't Miss
Video: Toy Company Still In Crisis Despite Reduced Tariffs on China

Video: Toy Company Still In Crisis Despite Reduced Tariffs on China

By News RoomMay 27, 2025

new video loaded: Toy Company Still In Crisis Despite Reduced Tariffs on ChinatranscriptBacktranscriptToy Company Still…

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

May 24, 2025
Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

Are You Smarter Than a Billionaire?

May 22, 2025
Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

May 22, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest business and finance news for entrepreneurs all around the world.

About Us
About Us

Influential Magazine is one of the top news portals about Business and Finance news for Entrepreneurs and leaders all around the world, follow us for more intersting articles and news.

Our Picks
Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

Wedding Belles Love Expands with Size-Inclusive, Same-Day Bridalwear Boutique

May 22, 2025
Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

Markets Head Lower in Wake of Concerns About U.S. Debt

May 19, 2025
Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

Video: How Staffing Shortages Have Plagued Newark Airport

May 17, 2025
Trending Now
Consumers Show Signs of Strain Amid Trump’s Tariff Rollout

Consumers Show Signs of Strain Amid Trump’s Tariff Rollout

May 15, 2025
Inside Elon Musk’s X Feed: Trumpism, Falsehoods and Lots of Love for Elon Musk

Inside Elon Musk’s X Feed: Trumpism, Falsehoods and Lots of Love for Elon Musk

May 15, 2025
World Economic Forum Investigating Allegations Against Founder Klaus Schwab

World Economic Forum Investigating Allegations Against Founder Klaus Schwab

May 15, 2025
Influential Magazine
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2025 Influential Mag. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.