Trump's 'forever' tariffs are kicking in for the long haul – and US consumers are footing the bill

The Trump administration’s new ‘forever’ tariffs are settling in for the long haul, and American consumers are the ones paying, according to an economist writing in The Conversation. After the Supreme Court struck down the emergency tariffs in February, a fresh set of import taxes based on existing U.S. trade law took their place — and unlike the earlier ‘Liberation Day’ levies, the bulk of these are designed to be permanent.

The new rates cover nearly all U.S. imports: global tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent, a 25 percent levy on goods from Brazil, an extra 50 percent on certain Canadian products, and product tariffs of 25 to 50 percent on steel, aluminium, automobiles, copper, timber and pharmaceuticals, with more categories planned. Because the new taxes are stacked on older ones, the burden on household budgets can only grow even if the rates themselves stay flat.

Researchers are already measuring the effect: the Dallas Federal Reserve estimated that inflation would have run at 2.3 percent in March without tariffs, rather than the actual 3.2 percent, and an analysis by the Yale Budget Lab concluded consumers are absorbing anywhere from half to the entire cost of the levies in higher prices. Tariff invoices are sent to U.S. importers, who pass most of the cost along. Twenty-five states have now challenged the new tariffs in court.