Why Trump wants Tariffs and who pays [View all]

Donald Trump wants extreme tariffs of foreign goods. He claims the foreign nations or companies will pay. Every reputable economist knows, that in the end, the American consumer pays. Tariffs are a consumer tax on imports. But, no doubt, it does raise money. The Trump tariffs will have the result of a Value Added Tax (VAT) or a sales tax, depending on the goods being provided to the United States.

These actions will result in inflation. The goods will cost more to the consumer, one way or another. This "tax" will raise revenue and allow Trump and his allied Republicans in Congress to cut tax rates for billionaires by leveraging the tariff tax as a new source of revenue.

But make no mistake about it, the tariffs are a sales tax which is the most regressive of all taxes and the average American will take a substantial, negative hit.