Only if the US prices are competitive. The Walmart situation is saying that negotiating with the Chinese is more cost efficient than working with US companies to replace the Chinese now higher priced items. That is a problem. Either the US products are still not competitively priced even with a tariff or there is no US product to substitute.historian said:ScottS said:Except you as the consumer can decide to buy a different countries product and NOT pay the new price. You could say now buy American products if you want.historian said:boognish_bear said:Leavitt: Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries and a tax cut for the American people
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 11, 2025
Reporter: Have you ever paid a tariff? I have. They don’t get charged on foreign countries
Leavitt: I think it’s insulting that you are trying test my knowledge on economics pic.twitter.com/usJyrfEZFP
She is wrong. In the final analysis, the consumer pays all tariffs. The companies who buy the products and then sell them here in America pass on the increased costs through higher prices. It's inevitable.
It's all political theater.
That's the goal of protectionist tariffs. However, long term the trend is for prices across the board to go up. Competitor will charge more because they can. Also, there are many other dynamics in the economy at work.
The only thing this exercise shows me is where the US needs improve. I HOPE there is some type of systematic review and documentation going on and some type of plan to address it. This would be an interesting exercise. Is GAO allowed to do such identification or since they are a Govt Agency they should stay out of it?