Today, President Trump issued an executive order lowering tariffs on dozens of imported food items like coffee, beef, and other agricultural goods. He did this because EVERYONE is screaming that prices continue go to up with no end in sight. Taking this action nullifies his entire theory that tariffs are paid by the importing country. Because if his theory were true he could increase tariffs almost infinitely and there would be no cost to the consumer.
Let’s get this straight. Tariffs are import taxes. Minimum wages are labor taxes. Regulations are a tax on business operations. Business licensing is a tax. Anything being charged to a company by a government is a tax. But companies don’t effectively pay taxes. Even if they file a tax return and pay a tax on their profits they don’t actually pay a tax because the tax is an expense, and that expense is passed onto the consumer EVERY SINGLE TIME.
People pay taxes, pure and simple. No other entity pays them but us.
President Trump on Friday moved to lower tariffs on beef, coffee and dozens of agricultural and food goods, marking a significant rollback of his so-called reciprocal levies as he looks for ways to address Americans’ concerns about the cost of living.
Trump issued an executive order modifying the reciprocal levies he imposed on virtually every trading partner in August, exempting more than a hundred common food items including fruits, nuts and spices.
The move continues a shift away from Trump’s maximalist tariff policy. When the president announced his reciprocal tariffs this spring, his economic team insisted there would be no exemptions to the levies. They later relented, removing duties on certain items not produced in the U.S., or available in sufficient quantities from domestic suppliers to meet demand.
The newly exempted products on Friday, however, include many products commonly produced in the U.S.—such as beef, which has risen to record prices in recent months.
The Wall Street Journal (free link)
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