Donald Trump’s big tariffs on foreign goods sold in the US could hurt his own business

US: Donald Trump’s plans to impose steep taxes on the sale of items from overseas might have a negative impact on his own companies. Newsweek discovered that the Republican presidential nominee’s products were manufactured in Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam.

In his campaign for president, Donald Trump has demanded tariffs of between 10 and 20 percent on “countries that have been ripping us off,” in addition to at least 60 percent on goods coming directly from China. During his Tuesday speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, Trump hinted that he may impose tariffs of up to 2,000 percent on some imported automobiles, saying, “If I’m going to be president of this country, I’m going to put a 100, 200, 2,000 percent tariff.”

He predicted that new factories will be built in the United States as a result of the tariffs, creating more employment. Tariffs, according to economists consulted by Newsweek, would drive up costs for American consumers.

Reporter Jesus Mesa of Newsweek discovered a large selection of Trump-branded items marked as manufactured outside of the US available for sale when he visited Trump Tower in Manhattan on October 11. These featured coats, towels from Bangladesh, shirts and jackets produced in Vietnam, and drinking flasks, woolly hats, baseball caps, and jackets made in China.

Newsweek sent an email requesting comments to the Trump Organization and Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

The God Bless the USA Bibles that the former president is selling for $59.99 are reportedly produced in China for less than $3 a volume, according to an Associated Press story from earlier this month. Along with the handwritten chorus to “God Bless the USA” by country music artist Lee Greenwood, each God Bless the USA Bible also contains the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Pledge of Allegiance. All translations are from the King James Version.

Mark Shanahan, a U.K.-based specialist on American politics at the University of Surrey, said in an interview with Newsweek that Trump’s sale of foreign goods exposes him to accusations of hypocrisy.

He stated: “Donald Trump is the master of, ‘Do as I say, not as I do,’ criticizing the impact of rapacious Chinese businesses on [the] U.S. while price gouging on his own products by sourcing them whole, or components for them from China.”

Shanahan went on to discuss the effects of tariffs, saying, “The former president likes to give the impression that he is tough on Chinese Premier Xi Jinping by his tariff policy. He views international relations only as a global business deal.” But in actuality, the expense will fall on American consumers.”About 16.5% of all U.S. imports come from China, but the majority of these exports are parts for electronics, medicines, and the automotive industry—all of which have no direct competitors in the US market. This will just slightly increase the cost of living; it won’t increase commerce with the United States.”

Newsweek was informed by Abigail Cooke, an international trade specialist and lecturer at the University of Buffalo in New York, that firms controlled by Trump would probably raise prices to cover the expenses of higher tariffs.

She declared: “Trump-owned firms would pay the tariffs on those imports if a second Trump administration imposed duties on product categories coming from China that included products that those companies were importing to sell in the United States. They have the option to absorb these additional expenses and reduce their earnings, but it is much more probable that they will pass those costs along to the American consumers who will eventually purchase those goods.”

In his Tuesday speech to the Economic Club of Chicago, Trump said that imposing tariffs on imports will aid in the reindustrialization of the United States.

He stated: “The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff.”

Trump went on, “Taxes do not exist. You just need to construct your factory in the US; tariffs are not applicable.”
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Anna Kelly stated in an interview with Newsweek: “President Trump implemented tariffs on China during his first term, which encouraged investment, produced employment, and prevented inflation. Even though she and Joe Biden maintained the tariffs from the Trump administration, Kamala Harris is now attempting to incite panic and fabricate information about his plan, all the while appropriating it for her own political campaign.”

According to Woan Foong, an international trade-focused economist at the University of Oregon, Newsweek Companies may relocate more of their production to the United States as a consequence of Trump’s planned tariffs, but American consumers would probably pay more as a result.

“Businesses who import inputs from China or import their products from China after they have been made there would be impacted by import tariffs,” the speaker said. The company may be exempt from these duties if it chooses to “reshore,” that is, produce these inputs and goods in the United States rather from China. But this would probably result in increased expenses, which would force these companies to impose higher pricing on the same goods.”

More than 90% of the best-selling caps and flags endorsing Trump or Harris on Amazon were linked to a Chinese merchant, according to a recent Financial Times investigation. None of these Amazon accounts seem to have been connected to any formal campaign. Both candidates claim to solely offer goods produced in the United States on their websites.

Before Trump’s 2020 campaign, 90,000 “Keep America Great” banners were being manufactured in eastern China, according to a Newsweek investigation from 2018.

Previous political opponents of Trump have attacked his sales of foreign goods. One such opponent was Senator Marco Rubio, who said in a news release from March 2016 that his then-primary opponent for the GOP “proudly outsources jobs to China, Mexico & other countries.”

Trump imposed many significant tariffs during his administration, such as the 20–50% import tax on solar panels and washing machines that went into effect in January 2018.

Two months later, Trump imposed 25 percent steel and 10 percent aluminum tariffs for the majority of nations, which sparked retaliatory tariffs on US goods from China, India, and Canada, among other nations.