The burden of higher tariffs will fall on buyers of Chinese made products and, ultimately, American consumers.
President Donald Trump on Friday claimed a victory of sorts in an ongoing trade war with China, asserting that his latest round of import tariffs on Chinese goods will force China to pay «$100 billion» to the U. S. Treasury.
Not only is Trump overstating the amount of those payments, he’s apparently unaware of who pays customs duties.
In fact, the burden of higher tariffs will fall on buyers of Chinese-made products and, ultimately, American consumers. That could end up costing every American household about $800, according to estimates from Oxford Economics.
U. S. and Chinese negotiators resumed trade talks Friday under increasing pressure after Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods and Beijing promised to retaliate, escalating a trade battle that began last summer.
Trump maintains the U. S. stands to gain from the latest escalation because of the added customs duties that will now flow to the U. S. Treasury.
Tariffs are taxes imposed by the government while duties are what importers have to pay. The two are not equal.
While it’s true that duties collected by the Customs Department go «directly to the U. S. Treasury,» they are hardly «massive» in terms of the government’s overall receipts.
