Yahoo Finance These 4 Things Will Be More Expensive If Trump Wins in November, According to Experts
The run-up to the 2024 presidential election has been marred by shocking developments, including a brewing mutiny by Democrats against their nominee — an incumbent president — and an assassination attempt that came within inches of taking his Republican predecessor’s life.
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Even so, much of the country is concerned with something far less sensational — the rising cost of daily life in America. GOBankingRates spoke with two experts who predicted what products are more likely to become more expensive if Donald Trump emerges victorious and is inaugurated as president in 2025.
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New Tariffs Could Make Nearly All Imports More Expensive
In his first term, Trump followed through on his campaign vow to launch protectionist trade initiatives in the form of tariffs on imported goods, mostly those from China. According to the Tax Foundation, those tariffs added $80 billion to the cost of imports, or an indirect $625 annual tax increase for American households.
If reelected, Trump has vowed to expand his trade wars, and if he does, the cost of imported consumer goods could rise again.
“President Trump has proposed a 60% tariff on imports from China and a 10% tariff on all other imports,” said Demian Brady, vice president of research for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), whose responsibilities include producing commentaries and studies on fiscal issues, analyzing State of the Unions, and managing the NTUF’s program for tracking the impact of legislation on the size of the federal budget.
“This would result in significant price increases for a wide range of goods, including clothing, toys, laptops and cellphones. The National Taxpayers Union Foundation has estimated that these tariffs would increase costs by an average of $2,600 per household, potentially undermining efforts to control inflation,” he said.
Chuck Warren, host of the “Breaking Battlegrounds” podcast, agreed. “Should there be a second Trump administration, prices of imported goods may shoot up significantly, mainly from countries like China. Given his history with tariffs along with trade policies, we should expect higher prices in electronics, clothing as well as other consumer products that rely heavily on global supply chains.”
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Expect To Pay More for These 4 Items in a Second Trump Term
As both experts pointed out, Trump is expected to expand on his protectionist trade policies with new tariffs if he wins another term. In concurrence, the Tax Foundation — a nonpartisan, nonprofit tax research organization — stated, “We estimate that if imposed, his proposed tariff increases would hike taxes by another $524 billion annually and shrink GDP by at least 0.8 percent, the capital stock by 0.7 percent, and employment by 684,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Our estimates do not capture the effects of retaliation, nor the additional harms that would stem from starting a global trade war.”
Look for rising price tags on these products if Trump is reelected.
Steel and Aluminum, the Constituent Metals for Countless Products
You might not purchase much steel and aluminum in bulk, but the manufacturers that make things like cars, appliances, homes, cans, cookware, tools, and even medicine and cosmetics do — and when the prices of raw materials go up, so does the price you pay for the end goods they become.
The Tax Foundation said Trump slapped a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on imported aluminum, although countries like Australia, Canada and Mexico were eventually exempted.
In a March television interview, Trump reiterated his commitment to tariffs on steel and aluminum in a second term because he believes it will make U.S. producers more competitive and safeguard domestic manufacturing jobs.
Toys
The Tax Foundation reported that Chinese imports accounted for $77 billion of Trump’s $79 billion in tariffs. That includes toys, which Brady mentioned among the products that will probably get more expensive in a second Trump term.
In August 2019, the toy industry reacted with dismay to President Trump’s threat to impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports as his trade war escalated.
CNBC reported that companies like Hasbro, Mattel, Funko and Spin Master — which outsourced nearly all their toy production, much of which to China — were bracing for rising prices on imports just as they were beginning to ship toys in from overseas for the upcoming holiday season. All four companies were planning to pass on the added costs to consumers, and if Trump is reelected, you should expect Christmas to become more expensive if you have kids in the house.
Electronics
Both Brady and Warren predicted that the price of electronics, such as laptops and cellphones, would rise if Trump were to be reelected. The Center for American Progress Action Fund, a nonpartisan policy institute and advocacy organization, said Trump’s proposed tariffs for his second term will cost the average American household $1,500 a year and that electronics would account for $80 of that sum.
Clothing
Both experts also mentioned clothing. According to industry publication JustStyle, clothing and accessories became more expensive in 2019 when Trump’s tariffs increased the cost of imported textiles, apparel and footwear, and that President Biden’s decision in May to retain the so-called Section 301 tariffs — those on Chinese textiles — had the industry “in an uproar.”
If Trump is reelected, a 10% tariff could rise to 60%, sending the cost of clothing skyward. The Center for American Progress Action Fund says Trump’s first-term tariffs accounted for $70 of the $1,500 annual cost-of-living increase.
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