Charlotte economists warn consumers of price hikes as tariff on Chinese imports moves forward
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports were paused, but the White House is moving forward with a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods. With it being a blanket tariff, local economists expect consumers will pay more on a range of items.
'This is a much bigger issue than what happened with Mexico and Canada…we import tons of things from China,' said Matthew Metzgar, a professor at UNC Charlotte.
Metzgar said with how much the US imports, the tariffs could be far-reaching.
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'The things many people would guess, you know, furniture, lots of things made with plastic, toys and then electronics,' he said.
Metzgar noted that while there were tariffs leveled against China during the Biden administration, they were on specific items including electric vehicles and solar cells. The latest one from Trump goes much further, taxing anything imported.
Metzgar's UNC Charlotte colleague, John Connaughton says there are cases where retailers may eat the cost of the tariff, but it depends on what makes the most sense for their business model.
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'They're the ones that have to decide what their revenue take will be based on that price, retail price,' Connaughton told Queen City News where the US will really hurt is when China retaliates, specifically the nation's plans to restrict what they export, like rare earth materials.
'[They] go into a lot of sophisticated products. And we don't have a lot of alternative supply. So that has been, that's the worry point in this particular trade war,' said Connaughton.
China also plans to level its own tariffs against coal, natural gas, and crude oil starting early next week.
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