On Monday evening, president-elect Donald Trump announced that he would impose steep tariffs on the U.S.’s top three trading partners — fees that will invariably raise consumer prices, effectively amounting to a regressive sales tax for most Americans.
Trump justified the tariffs by claiming they were meant to compel the three countries — Canada, Mexico and China — to address drug trafficking to the U.S. Trump’s statement addressed Canada and Mexico separately from China, saying that the tariffs would remain in place until those two countries changed their immigration policies.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States,” Trump wrote in the first of his two Truth Social posts on the subject, adding that the punitive tariffs would “remain in effect” until an unspecified amount of drugs stops entering the country and immigration comes to a halt.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Trump said. “We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
In his second post, Trump focused on China, saying that he would charge that country “an additional 10% Tariff” above what they are currently paying.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted to Trump’s social media posts by suggesting that her country could impose tariffs of its own on U.S.-made goods.
“One tariff will be followed by another in response,” Sheinbaum said, noting that a trade war between the two countries would put common companies “in risk.”
Notably, tariffs affect consumers much more than the countries they’re imposed on. That’s because companies that sell products to the U.S. raise the prices of those products when tariffs are implemented, which in turn leads to higher prices on the shelves of marketplaces — essentially, tariffs become a tax on American consumers rather than the penalty on other countries that Trump makes them out to be.
An examination of Trump’s tax policy during the presidential campaign found that the vast majority of Americans would see their taxes increased under his presidency, due largely to his proposed tariffs — save for the wealthiest 5 percent of wage earners in the U.S., who would receive enormous tax cuts under Trump’s plan.
Those proposed tariffs would act as a regressive tax on American consumers, meaning those with smaller incomes would pay a higher rate of taxes. The middle 20 percent of wage earners, for example, would expect to see a 2.1 percent tax increase if Trump’s tariffs were implemented, while those earning the lowest 20 percent wages would see a 4.8 percent tax increase.
Several retailers, including C-level executives from Walmart, AutoZone, Black & Decker and others, have acknowledged that consumers would be paying more for products sold at their stores if Trump’s tariffs are implemented.
“Obviously, coming out of the gate, there would be price increases associated with tariffs that we put into the market,” Black & Decker CEO Donald Allan Jr. said recently.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $150,000 in one-time donations and to add 1,500 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy