A new report reveals American families paid what amounts to a tax increase of at least $1,000 last year due to President Donald Trump’s crushing import tariffs. And the figure will be even higher this year – especially if tariffs increase…
That $1,000 is an all-in number, which includes food costs, plus increases for other imported goods. And it’s just an average per household. Still, on top of inflation and other increases, it’s a blow to consumers, many of whom are barely making ends meet every month. Given no further change in tariffs for the time being, the average American family can expect to pay around $1,300 more overall this year.
Trump doesn’t get it
Last April, Trump, “announced sweeping tariffs at a minimum of 10% and up to 54% on imported goods from over 180 countries around the world (including, for some reason, islands populated only by penguins),” Buzzfeed reporter reported. “Trump hyped the tariffs by calling April 2 [2025] ‘Liberation Day’ and billed his White House Rose Garden announcement as a ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ event.”
But independent economists were quick to point out that American consumers, not foreign manu-facturers or governments, would pay the price. And so it has turned out.
Report an eye-opener
The new report from The Tax Foundation, a non-partizan economic watchdog organization, has a number of observations to make, surrounding the tariffs and related issues. Among the key findings:
- We estimate that the tariffs raised $132 billion in net tax revenue in 2025. Trump’s tariffs threaten to offset much of the economic benefits of his new tax cuts, while falling short of paying for them.
- Under the tariffs imposed and scheduled as of February 6, 2026, the weighted average applied tariff rate on all imports rises to 13.5 percent, and the average effective tariff rate, reflecting behavioural responses, rises to 9.9 percent—the highest average rate since 1946.
- Trump’s imposed tariffs would raise $2.0 trillion in revenue from 2026-2035 on a conventional basis and reduce US GDP by 0.5 percent, all before foreign retaliation.
- The US Supreme Court will soon decide whether the president’s emergency powers under IEEPA actually do include the power to impose tariffs.
Canada, China, the EU and Mexico are hardest hit by the tariffs, with exports to the US valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars impacted. No surprise that China is the US trading partner most affected by tariffs, with an estimated $238 billion in foods sent to the US impacted.
My take
It appears Trump still doesn’t get the true significance of his Tariffs. He continues to insist that other countries and their manufacturers are paying for them.
But I think Trump actually does understand how tariffs work. And he’s just using them to further rob the poor to give to the rich. How else is he going to pay for his latest round of tax cuts – which mostly benefit his fellow billionaires?
~ Maggie J.