Trump collects nearly $50B from tariffs

Daily Mail​

7 days ago

The Trump administration has collected almost $50 billion from tariffs since initiating a global trade war in April. So far only Canada and China have retaliated against the steep tariffs that President Donald Trump has either threatened or imposed on much of the world. The White House currently imposes a minimum tariff of 10 percent on all foreign imports, 50 percent on steel and aluminum and 25 percent on car parts.
US revenues from customs duties hit $64 billion in the second quarter of this year. The record high represents $47 billion more than the same period last year, according to US Treasury data. The duty income from other countries' tariffs on American goods has paled in comparison to the US revenue made in the same period. Many countries decided against retaliating with their own levies in a desperate bid to avoid even higher rates as negotiations took place.
The EU, the world's biggest trading bloc, has put off implementing planned tariffs ahead of Trump's August 1 deadline for talks to conclude. It comes as The Wall Street Journal's chief economics correspondent delivered a surprise assessment on Wednesday - saying that Trump is 'winning' on trade policy . Greg Ip published his latest take on Trump's tariff wars in the publication on Tuesday, while criticizing the cruel nickname assigned to him after he 'chickened out' of imposing extreme tariffs.
'Trump has, by his own definition of success, already won his trade war,' Ip wrote, 'even without [the] deals' he vowed to reach with foreign allies. Trump faced harsh criticism for backing down on his 'Liberation Day' tariffs, earning him the moniker 'TACO' for 'Trump Always Chickens Out .' Trump threatened to redouble tariffs on any country that defied him by raising tariffs on the US, meaning many saw economic prudence in not hitting back.
America also has an upper hand as the world's largest consumer market , meaning countries cannot afford for the US market for their goods to dry up. 'Unlike the 1930s when countries had more balanced trading relationships, today's world features a hub-and-spoke system with the US at the centre,' Marta Bengoa, professor of international economics at City University of New York, told The Financial Times . 'That makes retaliation economically less desirable for most countries, even when it might be politically satisfying.'
Alexander Klein, professor of economic history at the University of Sussex, agreed, arguing that countries and blocs such as the EU are looking to minimize any further escalation and the inflation such a scenario could induce. 'I'd like to think leaders were learning the lessons of history, but I fear that's optimistic. More likely, the EU, Canada and many other governments fear the hit to global supply linkages and inflation from escalation,' he said.
'Trump cares less about that, so is taking advantage.' Consumers have been warned that prices for everyday goods, including groceries, will rise as a result of the levies . However, supply chain experts say companies are finding ways to spread the cost out across global markets to minimize the impact on US consumers, The Financial Times reported.
'Global brands can try and swallow some of the tariff cost through smart sourcing and cost savings but the majority will have to be distributed across other markets, because US consumers might swallow a 5 percent increase, but not 20 or even 40,' supply chain expert Simon Geale told the publication. Nonetheless, grocery giant Walmart said it is raising its prices to offset the cost of tariffs.
Equally, car giants have started to raise their prices to maintain their profit margins. But despite rising prices, Americans continued shopping in June , according to new data released Thursday by the US Commerce Department. Retail sales rose 0.6 percent last month, which is a major boost compared to the 0.9 percent decline in May.
T he June numbers were also stronger than analysts expected. Economists predicted retail sales would rebound only 0.2 percent. 'June's retail sales were resilient and they show that the consumer is still willing and able to spend,' Neil Saunders, a retail expert at GlobalData, told DailyMail.com. 'They also underline the fact that while tariffs have created a lot of uncertainty, we have not yet seen the full impact on prices and the economy.'