Americans’ Reaction to Trump’s Tariffs Vary From Worried to Enthused
President Trump’s announcement of sweeping universal and so-called reciprocal tariffs on countries around the world drew a swift rebuke on Wednesday from business groups, trade experts, Democratic lawmakers and many economists who warned that they would raise prices for American consumers and slow economic growth.
“This is catastrophic for American families,” said Matt Priest, president and chief executive of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America. “We had hoped the president would take a more targeted approach, but these broad tariffs will only drive-up costs, reduce product quality and weaken consumer confidence.”
Other reactions were more muted, and some positive, saying the move was long overdue.
“Today is arguably the single greatest trade and economic policy action in the history of the country, and it absolutely cements President Trump’s legacy that he is trying to usher in a new golden age of economy production and prosperity,” said Nick Iacovella, executive vice president at the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a group that supports tariffs. He said the tariffs would contribute to “broadly re-industrializing the United States and creating working class jobs.”
Mr. Trump insisted on Wednesday that experts had been wrong all along about his tariffs and that the anxiety about them now were misplaced. But those who will be forced to pay the tariffs were quick to raise concerns about the move, which will increase import taxes on products from some of America’s biggest trading partners including China, the European Union, Japan and India.
The National Retail Federation said in a statement that the tariffs would “equal more anxiety and uncertainty for American businesses and consumers.” Tariffs are not paid for by foreign countries or suppliers but by U.S. importers, they said. They also added that “the immediate implementation of these tariffs is a massive undertaking and requires both advance notice and substantial preparation by the millions of U.S. businesses that will be directly impacted.”
The National Association of Manufacturers said it was still parsing the details and exact implications of the president’s tariffs. But the group’s president, Jay Timmons, said in a statement that the high costs of new tariffs threatened investment, jobs, supply chains and, in turn, America’s ability to outcompete other nations and lead as the pre-eminent manufacturing superpower.”
The National Restaurant Association flagged concerns among business owners that tariffs would “hike food and packaging costs and add uncertainty to managing availability, while pushing prices up for consumers.”
“Many restaurant operators source as many domestic ingredients as they can, but it’s simply not possible for U.S. farmers and ranchers to produce the volumes needed to support consumer demand,” the association’s president, Michelle Korsmo, said in a statement.
Trade experts at the free-market focused Cato Institute said that Mr. Trump’s justifications for the tariffs were “flimsy” and conflicting and warned that they could fuel inflation and slow economic growth.
“With today’s announcement, U.S. tariffs will approach levels not seen since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which incited a global trade war and deepened the Great Depression,” Scott Lincicome and Colin Grabow of Cato said in a statement.
Top Democrats also panned Mr. Trump’s tariffs. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said that they would raise prices and add to uncertainty for businesses.
“Trump’s shortsighted tariff plan won’t rebuild American manufacturing or help working families get ahead,” Mr. Wyden said. “It’s a tax on almost everything families buy, so Trump can give his billionaire friends a tax cut.”
Those warnings were echoed by economists, many of whom revised their forecasts down for growth and up for inflation as a result of Mr. Trump’s announcement. Nancy Lazar, chief global economist at Piper Sandler, now reckons that growth in the second quarter may fall 1 percent “because you’re going to be increasing prices more aggressively and it’s going to negatively impact the consumer space more than we had anticipated.” She had previously expected a flat quarter. “It’s an immediate hit to the economy.”
James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, warned that tariffs of this magnitude — and the very likely retaliation from other countries — would “squeeze spending power” as well as dent corporate profits. “That’s why you are seeing all of us revising down our growth forecasts,” he said of the broader shift across Wall Street.
Still, Adriana Kugler, a governor at the Federal Reserve, pushed back on the idea that the United States was headed for stagflation — the dreaded combination of what she described as “corrosive inflation” and a recession — at an event at Princeton University on Wednesday. She said, however, that she was bracing for “more upside risk to inflation” and “some signs of a potential slowdown down the road.”
Exiger, a supply chain mapping firm, calculated that Mr. Trump’s announcements would result in $600 billion of new U.S. tariffs, the bulk of which would come from just 10 countries.
The firm calculated that the burden would fall heaviest on Chinese exports, which would face $149 billion in additional tariffs, while Vietnamese goods would face $63 billion, Taiwanese products $37 billion and Japanese goods $36 billion in tariffs. German and Irish goods combined would face $41 billion in additional levies.
Exiger called the announcement a “monumental policy shift that will reshape sourcing, pricing and geopolitical strategy.”
Despite the backlash, some business groups praised Mr. Trump’s measures.
“American steel producers are all too familiar with the detrimental effects of unfair foreign trade practices on domestic industries and their workers,” said Kevin Dempsey, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, who thanked the president for “standing up for American workers.”
John Williams, the executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, said his industry had “watched as multigenerational family businesses tie up their boats, unable to compete with foreign producers who play by a completely different set of rules.”
“We are grateful for the Trump administration’s actions today, which will preserve American jobs, food security and our commitment to ethical production,” he added.
Representative Jason Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, expressed optimism that the tariffs would be an effective tool for curbing abusive trade practices used by America’s trading partners.
“These tariffs leverage the power of the world’s largest market to create a level playing field for American farmers, producers and workers,” Mr. Smith said.
Ana Swanson and Tony Romm contributed reporting.