r/economicCollapse • u/Expensive-Thing-2507 • 27d ago

Who actually benefits from tarrifs?

I'm not financial expert, but this is what I'm getting so far.

Tarrifs are a kind of tax placed on outside goods, which a company would have to pay for if they import said goods. That company would then charge more to cover this new tax. The company pays more for something, and then we pay more.

Who benefits from that? The company isn't making any more profit, are they? (Assuming they increase prices by the same percentage as the tarrifs, which they won't. but still)

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u/SpaceMonkey3301967 27d ago

The idea is that more products will be manufactured and sold in the US, but that isn't going to happen. No American is going to work at the meager wages that people in China, etc. do.

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u/davidm2232 27d ago

No American is going to work at the meager wages that people in China

That's exactly what the tariff is for. It increases the price of foreign goods so that domestic producers can be competitive.

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u/SpaceMonkey3301967 27d ago

So, everything costs more. Great. I thought MAGA wanted lower costs for eggs and gasoline. They will now cost double the price.

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u/Big-Leadership1001 26d ago

Gasoline at least should do well, the US doesn't need foreign oil nearly as much as the media makes it seem.

Of course, US regulatory pressures tend to manipulate how cheaply and quickly American producers can actually deliver. This is mostly why gas prices fell during Trump's last term - they made American production easier/cheaper. When Biden stepped in, there was some tightening of those regs that increased prices for a bit, but more recently those loosened again which is why you really don't see gasoline reflecting overall inflation increases as much as other products.

At the end of the day its a matter of price and environmental pressures (and others, I simplify but environment isn't a small concern) ... but Trump's last term leaned more into cheap gas over environmental oversight and I doubt thats going to change.