You don’t even need to get into economic theory, just tell them it’s a hidden sales tax, and that’s all they’ll need to know. Tariffs are pretty simple:
product gets taxed when it comes into our country
companies increase the price of goods to pay the tax
products are more expensive for customers, because of that tax
They won’t see the tax when they buy stuff, but it’s still there, and it’s largely the same as if the fed government levied a nationwide sales tax, but it only applies to imports. Most US-made stuff relies on imported materials, so it even impacts them.
The Harris campaign literally did this, I want to say in a sideswipe during the debate. And Trump said nuh-uh, it’s not a tax, and the campaign more or less shut up about it, wasn’t a core feature of their advertising, stump speech, or debate strategy going forward, they opted for “save our institutions” and “he’s going to raise the ever nebulous cost of living” (which got lost in the Biden is responsible for bird flu egg prices noise from the other side). Can you imagine betting it all on courting Republican voters, and being so easily talked off of the “he’s going to tax you more” hill? I know hindsight is 20/20, but that’s some frustrating shit to think about
“Tariffs are a Trump tax” was a core message of the Harris campaign… (Trump really was planning to tariff the entire world 10% since last August!) The last months of the campaign befoee election day are a blur to me, but did Harris really drop that line after the debate? I really doubt it.
The knuckleheads all thought that the other countries would be paying the tariffs because they didn’t understand how tariffs work.
Neither do Democrats or they would have used that information to win the election.
well, it’s been a quick and painful way to educate the American population on specific economic theories and topics
You don’t even need to get into economic theory, just tell them it’s a hidden sales tax, and that’s all they’ll need to know. Tariffs are pretty simple:
They won’t see the tax when they buy stuff, but it’s still there, and it’s largely the same as if the fed government levied a nationwide sales tax, but it only applies to imports. Most US-made stuff relies on imported materials, so it even impacts them.
The Harris campaign literally did this, I want to say in a sideswipe during the debate. And Trump said nuh-uh, it’s not a tax, and the campaign more or less shut up about it, wasn’t a core feature of their advertising, stump speech, or debate strategy going forward, they opted for “save our institutions” and “he’s going to raise the ever nebulous cost of living” (which got lost in the Biden is responsible for bird flu egg prices noise from the other side). Can you imagine betting it all on courting Republican voters, and being so easily talked off of the “he’s going to tax you more” hill? I know hindsight is 20/20, but that’s some frustrating shit to think about
“Tariffs are a Trump tax” was a core message of the Harris campaign… (Trump really was planning to tariff the entire world 10% since last August!) The last months of the campaign befoee election day are a blur to me, but did Harris really drop that line after the debate? I really doubt it.
A few did. Some still don’t understand, and some are doing some pretty impressive mental gymnastics to make it sound like it’s Biden’s fault somehow.