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American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

kielinstitut.de

41–50 of 814 posts

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#41

Isn't this literally economics 101? How did we ever even end up imagining that tariffs are somehow paid by the exporter??

Many problems in the world would be solved if people actually read Economics 101.

Surprisingly few Americans can read, and surprisingly fewer at a college level.

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#42

Isn't this literally economics 101? How did we ever even end up imagining that tariffs are somehow paid by the exporter??

many of us never imagined this. but about 30% of the country have 0 literacy or critical thinking skills.

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#43

Can the title be changed to match some of the content text (eg America’s Own Goal: Who Pays the Tariffs?) ‘US Americans’ makes it sound as if a distinction is being drawn between Americans inside and outside of the US or something

Americans across North/South/Central America are feeling the impact of the tariffs in various ways. This report is talking specifically about the impact on US citizens, so the distinction is ultimately warranted IMO

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#44

Can the title be changed to match some of the content text (eg America’s Own Goal: Who Pays the Tariffs?) ‘US Americans’ makes it sound as if a distinction is being drawn between Americans inside and outside of the US or something

US Americans is usually used outside the US to differentiate inhabitants of the US from citizens of other countries in the Americas (e.g. Mexico, Canada, and all of central and South America).

E.g. in Germany, inhabitants of the US are usually called "US amerikaner", so this is a direct translation (the Kiel institute is in Germany).

It's just Germans being stereotypically precise about things (and reminding citizens of the USA that they aren't the only people in the Americas).

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#45
What's the problem about it? Trump cuts one kinds of taxes and introduces others in place. I see it reasonable because it means going from taxing good things (people making money, people holding property) to taxing bad things (imports that drain cash from the country). Direct net result is perhaps zero, but indirect one is what it's for.

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#46

I actually think Trump is going to lose big soon. One turning point was the death of Renee Good. Past this point the ICE stormtroopers may kill anyone else too, no matter who that is - just step in front of a car and shoot when the car moves. For serious penalty, all those TechBro cronies need to have all assets seized. They are imcompatible with democracy.

It's not just Renee Good.

Unfortunately, this didn't get a lot of attention, but they also threw a flash-bang grenade and tear gas at a car filled with six children. A six month old baby had to get CPR from her mom. Two kids were hospitalized.

None of this is acceptable. And their overtly violent behavior has nothing to do with enforcing the law.

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#47

Isn't this literally economics 101? How did we ever even end up imagining that tariffs are somehow paid by the exporter??

No, it isn’t that simple. Who bears the most weight depends on the elasticity of the curve on each side. This is confirming demand is more inelastic, which causes it to bear the burden, but could have been the other way around.

What does elasticity matter if you no longer make a profit?

Isn't the only thing that could matter - apart from strategic considerations of financing a loss for a time - if the margins are big enough? Who wants to pay for people to take their products below the full cost of making them, apart from some investor-financed hype startups?

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#48
In India, every tax imposed on a business goes straight to consumer. The consumer receipt even mentions some of those taxes item-wise. I thought American consumer also might see this on their shopping receipts? Who thinks businesses would swallow taxes?

Re: American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis

#50

> Event studies around discrete tariff shocks on Brazil (50%) and India (25–50%) confirm: export prices did not decline. Trade volumes collapsed instead. What if that was the intended result?

It certainly was to anyone who has been paying attention. I would highly recommend that anyone who thinks the tariff strategy is irrational to read through Michael Kao's substack and his analysis of the administration's 2.0 playbook [1]. There's good news and bad news, but overall there's glimmers of hope.

[1] https://archive.ph/kLxw3

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