(Letter to the Editor - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

On today’s (last Sunday) front page there is an article from AP titled “Trump injects a new dose of uncertainty in tariffs…,” which is a good summary of the very latest developments, especially that Federal Circuit Court case discussed on Thursday.

It is well worth a read, but does not help much to clear some remaining confusion about just who feels the immediate economic hit.

Frequently there is an impression conveyed that tariffs are being imposed on other countries. Not so. Nothing is collected from the foreign country where the shipment originated, or from the company that manufactured the product.

To be clear, these tariffs are more accurately described as import taxes, and they are being imposed totally on us Americans. Tariffs are collected at the point of entry into the U.S., whether it’s a west coast port or a highway from Canada or Mexico or by air freight. They are paid by the importing business or individual then and there. Depending on the particular product, that added cost will be spread out among many of us. It might include the warehouser, shippers (truck or rail or air), a wholesaler or retailer, or the final purchaser/consumer.

Any Econ 101 textbook tells us that higher taxes in general will depress economic activity, because we have less remaining to spend or save or invest. Higher import taxes will also have a tendency to spark inflation, because they will spread out in the economy rapidly, compared to other taxes like income taxes or property taxes.

If it seems irrational for our government to be saying they are somehow punishing foreign countries, but actually raising our taxes, that’s possibly because there is no information about what is being done with the tariff (tax) money collected so far.

If there is a general objective to add some additional modern manufacturing to this country, then hopefully we will start by first understanding that the world of the old days (including tariff wars) is long gone and not coming back.

George Roe

Vienna