> The tariffs are paid by the foreign producers, not consumers.
The tariffs are being paid by domestic companies, not foreign producers. There is literally no way for a foreign producer to pay a U.S. tariff as the tariff is charged to the importer before the good is released by Customs.
The impacts of the tariffs are domestic. If consumer prices are not increased, then profits, investment, or expenses (including salary, benefits, etc) will be decreased. The money has to come from somewhere inside the U.S.
This is the entire point of a tariff, historically and as expressed by this administration. It is not to source foreign tax revenue, it is to create intentional domestic pain as a means toward implementing a top-down industrial policy. “Make it here or I will hurt you” is the overt message from the President.
> The tariffs are being paid by domestic companies, not foreign producers.
I've had suppliers from China lower their prices in the face of the tarrifs so that the total amount I pay after the tarrifs is only slightly higher. Which is going to be even more harmful if/when the tarrifs get removed as they're now undercutting American manufacturers even more than they were before.
And if those hints become reality, might prices rise to re-increase margins?
Do you make the same argument about the corporate income tax being absorbed by companies? Or do you assume that tax makes its way to consumers through price increases? What about increases in the minimum wage?
Dude, I write the checks, I assure you: the importer pays, no one else. I import the stuff, I pay at the port, I get my stuff. Now I take my wildly expensive stuff back to my building and try to stay in business. Whatever macro economic stories might be playing out, it starts with an American business paying a fat tax to get his materials.
> Core CPI continues to print lower than street expectations, for five consecutive months now. Far lower than what the Fed is concerned about, and certainly leagues lower than what the consumer expects.
Haven't a ton of the tariffs been delayed? To what extent have they actually been in effect?
