Letter: Who Pays for Tariffs?

Surprise! We consumers pay the tariffs. You could consider it a hidden “tax” on us!

How so? Say our government charges 10% the price of the import. The exporting country tacks that 10% onto the price of the goods. (10% inflation, right there.)

That’s if we buy the inflated goods. If we decide they’re not worth the price, sales go down, local sales tax revenues go down (reducing local community revenues), the exporter sells elsewhere.

When are tariffs a good thing? When they are selective, to protect US industries. When we’re not flooded with cheap Chinese electric cars or solar panels, but our industries have a chance to ramp production up to scale and sell at lower prices here. Yes, we pay more, but in the end we are developing our own economy.

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Suzanne Ferguson

Southeast side

Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.