As Donald Trump promised in his reelection campaign, he plans to raise the price of tariffs specifically targeting Canada, Mexico, and China. According to reuters.com, tariffs for Canada and Mexico have been postponed for 30 days in agreement for the neighboring countries to increase border security. However, if the tariffs continue, the president fails to see that Tariffs would be disastrous for America. Tariffs would hurt Americans because it would cause the price of goods to skyrocket. Additionally, businesses would face extreme difficulty because their products may cost more. Raising tariffs could even damage the United States’ image worldwide.
While tariffs are meant to force other countries to the table on trade deals, they will most likely just damage us on the world stage even if other nations agree to the demanded concessions. Our government has threatened other countries with or instated tariffs against all of our largest trading partners, and when you force your trading partners to pay more to export products, they will raise prices to make up for lost profit. There is a direct line between tariffs and rising prices.
In a similar vein, Mr. Trump has said many times he will leave NAFTA, (the North American Free Trade Association) this would be equivalent to disbanding the organization. This would mean, that on the North American continent, there will no longer be free trade. Free trade is defined as “international trade left to its natural course without tariffs, quotas, or other restrictions.” NAFTA has been repeatedly statistically proven to be massively beneficial for all involved although the US, as the largest partner, does put in the most, but that doesn’t stop NAFTA from helping the US import more goods for less as prices would go up to make up for lost profit caused by our tariffs and then for exports we would have to work with Mexico/Canada’s trade policies. Disbanding NAFTA would be part of why Mr. Trump has the power to instate, as stated above, tariffs against Canada and Mexico, both of our largest trading partners.
While we have explained what President Trump is doing, we have yet to explain precisely how it will affect normal Americans, so that will be the goal going forward. First, 25% tariffs affecting oil against Canada and Mexico will bring gas prices up. Secondly, according to David Gelle at the New York Times, “the tariffs will threaten the supply chain for renewable energy sources.” Meaning it will also have an impact on America’s push toward green energy.
In terms of the economy, the increased price of goods would put great stress on small and large businesses. As reported by brookings.edu, the 25% export tax would cause unemployment to rise to 0.11%. Data from last year suggests that percent is equivalent to 177,000 Americans. The increased prices would affect other country’s populations with job loss increasing by 1.3%-2.3% in Canada, which would cause 278,000 Canadians to lose their jobs and 1.4 million Mexicans to become unemployed. Furthermore, the increased prices would impact inflation. The Tariffs will cause an increase of over 1.3% now might not seem terrible, but with other countries taxing American goods that will affect the already increased inflation. The president’s plan spells disaster for the U.S. financial system, as business and American workers would suffer under terrible economic conditions.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/climate/trump-trade-climate-change.html?searchResultPosition=9
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/business/tariffs-prices-consumers.html?searchResultPosition=8
