“I always say tariffs are the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” President Trump said about tariffs.
The markets were thrown into chaos as President Donald Trump put tariffs on over 128 nations, including Canada, Mexico and China. As soon as he put them in action, he hit pause.
This may have been their first time hearing the term for many Americans.
But what exactly is a tariff?
“So the easiest way to think about tariffs, honestly, is just to think of them as a tax,” said COC Political Science Professor Phil Gussin.
As an example, when someone orders shoes from a country like China, you may likely have to pay 125% more than the original price.
“When you go to Ralph’s and you buy groceries, there’s a sales tax on it, and Ralph’s is paying the sales tax. Ralph’s isn’t paying the sales tax; they’re passing it on to the customers. Tariffs are no different,” said Gussin.
As the fear of higher prices and concerns about what may happen if the president follows through increase, protesters vented their outrage at the “Stop the Cuts” protest this past Saturday in Valencia.
“All the things that we import to make these products, the taxes on them, the price of them, it’s going up. It’s hurting our pockets because this administration doesn’t understand how any of this works,” said SCV Democrats Chairwoman Jenna Sickenus.
For now, President Trump has given nations a chance to play by fair trade rules. He says that this move will help the American people and businesses.
But if no deal is struck?
“Now I’m not an economist, but common sense tells me that the same thing that caused the dip before will cause the dip again, the consumers will be exactly the same,” said Gussin.
Much can happen between now and the end of July regarding the 90-day pause. For now, we will have to see how discussions go.
