After being handed an unambiguous loss on his attorney general pick, former President/President-elect Donald Trump needed to distract attention away from his other iffy Cabinet picks (oh, for an FBI background check!) and astonishing number of high-level executive appointments who also happen to be co-authors of Project 2025 (I count eight as of this writing).
So the night of November 25, Trump took to Truth Social and announced some tariffs. Three, to be exact. With our three largest trading partners: Mexico ($475 billion in imports and $323 billion in exports), Canada ($418 billion in imports and $354 billion in exports), and China ($427 billion in imports and $128 billion in exports), respectively.
All Mexican and Canadian goods would see a 25% import tax, and Chinese goods would see a 10% import tax.
16% of cars sold in America are built in Mexico, and 43% of the parts for those cars. More than half the fresh fruit Americans buy is grown in Mexico. The United States buys almost all of Canada's oil, which makes up about 60% of our total oil imports. Steel and aluminum are supplied by both Canada and Mexico to the United States. We buy electronics, phones, computers and toys from China, along with pharmaceutical products and medical equipment. We buy about 15% of China's goods and are its largest market.
But this is to negotiate, we are being told. Trump accused Canada and Mexico of enabling illegal immigration and fentanyl use in America and will use tariffs to make those countries change their policies; similarly, the Chinese tariffs will send a message that their turning a blind eye to the production of the chemicals used to make fentanyl will no longer be tolerated.
On the campaign trail, Trump used has used tariffs as economic and foreign policy. There is a problem with his logic. Tariffs are a tax. And they are a tax that is paid by us. Importers of foreign goods must pay a tax on the goods when they arrive in the country; this cost is passed on to the consumer.
Tariffs do not bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, as has been alluded to. In fact, since Trump first placed tariffs on certain Chinese goods in 2018, which have been maintained and added to by the Biden administration, manufacturing as a share of GDP has declined from 11.4 percent to 10.2 percent in 2023.
They do generate tax revenue for the government. And they do raise prices for consumers. And they wreak havoc on global business as targeted nations respond with their own tariffs.
The American auto industry has planned its supply chain around the U.S., Canada, and Mexico for decades. Auto parts often make several trips between the U.S. and Mexico before they are finished. If there is a tariff to be paid in each country on point of entry, prices will skyrocket. The consumer will pay.
According to the non-profit Tax Foundation, the current Chinese tariffs have placed an annual average tax increase of $625 on American households, generating $233 billion in revenue. The new tariffs proposed by Trump would generate $111 billion in tax revenue the first year alone – paid by us.
Over time, the Chinese tariffs have had some strategic effect. China's dominance in the semiconductor industry has been blunted, and it has lost its place as our top trading partner. However, it has not generated a manufacturing boom in this country. Turning on our current trading partners – who are also allies - will also not generate a manufacturing boom but shift those markets to say, Germany and Japan.
This is not negotiation but perpetual market instability, regressive taxation and blocking of free trade. And American consumers are taking the worst hit with higher prices on cars, car parts, gas, and food.
It's as though a loved one was kidnapped and you decided to negotiate with the kidnappers. And your means of negotiation was to threaten to break your loved one's little sister's fingers one by one each day your loved one wasn't released. The pain of tariffs is misdirected: it lands directly on the American people.
No one wins with tariffs. Government interference in markets is bad for consumers, "negotiation" or no.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at
