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LOS ANGELES - President Donald Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods from an already existing 10 percent tariff put in place in September to 25 percent.
The latest U.S. increase might hit American consumers harder, said Jake Parker, Vice President of the U.S.-China Business Council, an industry group. He said the earlier 10 percent increase was absorbed by companies and offset by a weakening of the Chinese currency’s exchange rate.
With an increase like 25 percent, it will be harder for companies to shield consumers and businesses that are already passing on the costs will now pass on even higher prices.
Analysts at the consultancy Oxford Economics estimate that implementing and maintaining the latest increase would trim U.S. gross domestic product by 0.3 percent, or $62 billion, in 2020. This would be equal to a loss of about $490 per household.
The National Retail Federation says that almost every type of product from every sector of the American Economy will be affected by the 25 percent increase.
The 194 page list consisting of 6,000 products affected by the tariffs, ranges from “Live trout” to “Golf bags, with outer surface of leather or composition leather.”
Thousands of items on the list are things most Americans eat including vegetables, and hundreds of types of meat and fish. You might find a majority of these items in your kitchen like:
- Corn
- Mustard seeds
- Sugar
- Strawberry jam
- Pineapples
It’s not just your pantry that will be affected, but you bathroom too. Things like:
- Shampoos
- Toilet paper
- Bath salts
- Make-up
Pretty much anything you can think of is on the list, ranging in obscurity from Christmas tree lights, to batting gloves.
Some items could even be subject to double tariffs since Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum last year against Canada and Mexico.
The tariffs won’t start taking effect until those shipments complete the three-to-four-week voyage across the Pacific Ocean.
The higher U.S. import taxes don’t apply to Chinese goods shipped before Friday. By sea, shipments across the Pacific take about three weeks, which gives negotiators some time to reach a settlement before importers may have to pay the increased charges.
The Associated Press contributed to this story