CNN: Americans just feel like they can’t catch a financial break. You know the feeling. You go to the grocery store, you look at the prices and you want to channel your inner Vince Lombardi: “What the (heck) is going on out here?” Worst of all, it feels like it’s only going to get worse. There’s a very good reason for that: Americans may, in a way, get taxed more when they go to buy things – more than they have for a long period of time. No matter what some people will tell you, tariffs are, in fact, taxes. When you combine the potential tariff rates that the Trump administration could impose on us, the consumer, with the inflation that raged out of control coming out of the pandemic, it feels like things have gotten away from us. Take a look at a recent report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. It estimates that under President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, the effective tariff rate will be 8% in 2025. That’s so high that it would go off the page if you were charting tariff rates over the last 55 years. Indeed, you’d have to go back to the 1960s to find a comparable rate. You’d have to jump in a time machine back to when Americans were still earning World War II victory medals (1946) to find a higher tariff rate on Americans. The real world consequences of a heightened tariff rate could be a tremendous strain on the American consumer. The Yale Budget Lab earlier this month estimated that Trump’s tariffs could cost the average household $2,000 in inflation-accounted disposable income a year. The median household income is well under $100,000 per year. Prices for computers could rise by over 10%, by 5% for natural gas and even over 4% for something as simple as rice if the tariffs take effect. The average price of a new car could surge to over $50,000. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/28/business/consumer-economy-recession/index.html and https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/28/economy/auto-tariffs-could-raise-cost-of-car-repairs/index.html
Warren Buffett: Tariffs are ‘an act of war’ https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/03/business/warren-buffett-tariffs-trump/index.html
Warren Buffett, warning of ‘scoundrels’ and ‘fiscal folly,’ slashes his exposure to U.S. stocks It surely says nothing cheerful that Warren Buffett, the world’s most famous and successful investor, now holds more than half of his company’s net assets in cash and Treasury bills. Or that the legendary chairman of the Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A BRK.B conglomerate now has more in cash than he does in traded U.S. stocks. Or that in his latest annual letter to investors, the 94-year-old has taken a break from his usual patriotic boosterism, and instead is warning about the risks to America from “fiscal folly” and from “scoundrels and promoters” who “take advantage of those who mistakenly trust them.” https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-warning-scoundrels-fiscal-184500701.html
Tariffs are just one part of the equation creating huge uncertainty. The sudden firing of tens of thousands of Feds and contractors creates a ripple effect while degrading basic services. Closing the border while not amending the legal process for admission means fewer folks coming into the labor market. Throughout the process all of these policies reverse or change dramatically based on Trump's mood any given hour. While the goals are admirable, the methods they are using (while largely ignoring the law) are creating a sense of fear and uncertainty with the public. People that are fearful and uncertain don't spend money.
This should be in the Economics Section not Trading Section. Anyway, yes tariffs are most definitely one and the same as taxes, and might be why current admin is slashing funding for the IRS. LOL we can't afford to pay both taxes and tariffs. The old bait and switch trick, see we cut your "taxes" wink, wink. And to make matters worse escalating, retaliatory tariffs so we and all our former friendly trading partners' citizens pay more .... and more .... and more. Party like it's ........... 1929.
Totally agree. (PS Suntrader yep ur right re where I posted, I don't post here that much so not that familair with the layout...) But anyway, I'm old enough to have remembered Reagan as a kid, I really loved the guy, a truly decent and good human being who turned me into a lifelong conservative. But whats happening now has zilch to do with what he stood for. Results coming in fast and furious: Five Recession Indicators Now Raising Alarm in the US With input from U.S. economists, Newsweek has identified the five key indicators that experts are monitoring to evaluate the likelihood of an economic downturn. Consumer Confidence Economist Gary Hufbauer told Newsweek that measures of consumer confidence are among the most important gauges of the country's economic wellbeing. Optimism about the state of the economy, and one's personal finances, translate into consumer spending, estimated to account for over two-thirds of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). "A change in feelings about the economic backdrop is often a harbinger of things to come and precedes a downshift in consumer spending and business investment," according to Jeffrey Roach of LPL Financial. The Conference Board's latest Consumer Confidence Index, arguably the most commonly consulted measure, saw a 7.2-point drop between February and March. This reading, which came in below expectations, marked the fourth consecutive month of declines and brought the index to its lowest level since January 2021, when the country was still grappling with the COVID pandemic. The Expectations Index, which weighs consumers' forecasts for economic conditions in the short-term, tumbled to 65.2, the lowest reading in 12 years and below the 80-point threshold that the Conference Board said "usually signals a recession ahead." continued: https://www.newsweek.com/five-recession-indicators-usa-trump-tariffs-economy-downturn-2051996
What will Trump do with all that tariff money? DOGE won't let Dems steal it like they always do. Someone add up all the trade deficits going to zero. Globalist are welfare cheats corrupting the landlord, while paying goons to scare the legit tenants.