Americans Are Mostly Paying the Import Tariffs Themselves By Aïda Brands, Economics Correspondent — NOS News • today, 16:55 The costs of the import tariffs introduced by President Trump last year are being paid almost entirely by American companies and consumers. According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, as much as 90 % is paid by Americans themselves. � NOS Last year, the U.S. president introduced a large number of new import taxes. Currently there is a 50 % tariff on steel, iron and aluminum products worldwide. After months of negotiations, it was also agreed this summer that a general import tariff of 15 % applies to products from the European Union. � NOS Many other countries saw their products become significantly more expensive in the United States over the past year. Last summer, tariffs shot up in all directions: Chinese goods were briefly subject to a 125 % tariff, although after a deal with China this was reduced again. According to calculations by the Federal Reserve, the average import tax in the United States rose last year from 2.6 % to 13 %. � NOS America Pays Because almost all foreign products have become considerably more expensive, prices in the United States have also risen — contrary to what Trump had promised. The White House hoped that with the tariffs American products would become more attractive and that foreign companies would bear most of the cost. � NOS An import tariff is always paid by an importer, but an exporting company could choose to lower its price slightly so that the product doesn’t become drastically more expensive in the U.S. However, this barely happens in practice. � NOS In December, life in the U.S. had become 2.7 % more expensive compared with a year earlier. In January this figure fell to 2.4 % — higher than the 2 % inflation rate economists consider ideal. Still, this is not a shocking inflation increase, suggesting the impact of the tariffs may not be as extreme as feared. � NOS Philip Marey, a U.S. analyst at Rabobank, says: “We can already see it in the inflation figures, but it’s somewhat deceptive. Goods are rising much more sharply in price than services.” He estimates that without the tariffs, U.S. inflation would likely have remained around 2 %. � NOS Midterm Elections The peak effects of the tariffs are expected to be felt in the U.S. over the next six months. According to U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, most of the tariffs have already been priced in. Additionally, midterm elections are scheduled later this year. Analysts from the bank do not expect Trump to introduce many additional tariffs in the coming year, which would further increase prices in the U.S. � NOS There is now “even a clear incentive to reduce certain tariffs,” says Marey. “He will mainly look at products for consumers because his popularity is dropping sharply.” For this reason, Trump also lowered tariffs on products such as bananas and coffee from Brazil at the end of last year. � NOS According to the Financial Times, Trump is reportedly even considering easing tariffs on steel, iron and aluminum, which currently remain at 50 %. The White House expanded the list of products subject to these tariffs last summer, but some items may now be removed from that list. � NOS