04-03-2025
How would tariffs impact consumers and businesses?
BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — President Donald Trump said Monday that a 25% tax on imports from Canada and Mexico would be put into effect on Tuesday, so what does that mean for your wallet?
'He actually imposed the 25% goods tariff from Canada and Mexico and then in addition to that he put a 10% extra surcharge or tariff on goods that had already been tariffed into China,' said Maryville College Political Science Professor Mark O'Gorman.
What are the goods facing Trump's tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China?
Nearly a month ago, President Trump granted Mexico and China a reprieve after reaching agreements with both nations regarding border security.
'The idea with the tariffs is by putting a surcharge basically on goods coming into the United States, you're actually getting tax money and that increases the revenue that the United States federal government would take in. Tariffs are a big dollar amount but a small percentage of the overall revenue that comes in,' O'Gorman said. 'More tariff money means more resources for the government, so I think there's a fiscal strategy that the Trump administration and President Trump are doing.'
Businesses like KaTom Restaurant Supply in Sevier County are keeping tabs on their products and prices.
'Is it going to be on product that hits when it does hit the ports, but then there's a deeper story here,' KaTom CEO Patricia Bible said. 'That story is the componentry that is coming in, whether it is metals or parts, will also probably have that additional tariff on that.'
Bible hopes these tariffs will not have a significant impact on the company's customers.
Political science professor breaks down ramifications of international tariffs
'Believe it or not there are negotiations that can be made around this, so we're busy doing that on every front that we possibly can to keep those increases down as small as possible,' Bible said.
O'Gorman believes these tariffs will impact your wallet in someway.
'You're going to feel it both in terms of those small ticket item, but also bigger ticket items,' O'Gorman said. 'Bigger ticket items where there are a lot of parts together.'
David Gantz, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, told the Associated Press that the tariffs pose an 'existential'' threat to North American auto production.
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Canada, Mexico, and China have announced plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on American goods.
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