In the twilight zone of tariffs, there’s an ever growing disconnect between reality and rhetoric. Take for example the president’s weekend declaration of victory in getting better trade deals, it couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The reality is there are no new deals, but there is a lot of fallout. Check out our new timeline infographic to keep things straight.
Since this trade war began in March, the U.S. has come to agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea to reduce the amount of steel or aluminum products they export to the United States, helping lead to an increase in the costs of raw ingredients for a host of American manufacturers. But an agreement is not the same as a deal. We are far from saying better deals have been established that would help American industries and workers. A new report by Trade Partnerships reiterates this fact, finding that the U.S. will suffer a net loss of 400,000 jobs due to the tariffs.
Instead of deals to end tariffs and provide more opportunities for American trade, a massive expansion of tariffs is on deck. The administration is set to collect additional tariffs on $16 billion of goods from China beginning Thursday, August 23. Everything from dirt bikes to sawing machines for working stone. China will immediately retaliate with a 25 percent tariff on $16 billion worth of products American companies export; everything from liquefied propane to vaseline. By the end of this week Trump’s trade war will result in Americans paying 25 percent more for $50 billion worth of goods from China, with more tariffs to come.
All this week, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is holding a hearing on adding even more tariffs to an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods. More than 1,600 comments have been submitted regarding the tariffs list Leading USTR set aside more than 40 hours over six days have to hear from 355 witnesses expected to testify on the harm these tariffs will have on American businesses. China has responded by threatening to impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. exports. When this latest round is put into place by the end of September, American manufacturers and consumers will likely pay 25 percent more for fully half of all goods and materials they import from China. And don’t forget the president has threatened to raise tariffs on every single item Americans use from China.
Tariffs aren’t going away any time soon and neither are the costs for taxpayers. The USDA is expected to announce details regarding how they will dole out $12 billion of taxpayer money they’ve pledged to throw at agricultural producers affected by the trade war. In addition Secretary of Agriculture Perdue recently announced plans to buy $50 million of “excess” milk, even though the dairy industry will very likely get a portion of the $12 billion in hush money.
As far as we can tell, the bottom line on the president’s deal is that the more and longer this trade tiff escalates, the harsher the fallout will be for taxpayers.
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