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Trump’s Tariff Plan

Writer's picture: Breeley MollBreeley Moll

President-elect Donald Trump will take office on January 20th, and has already shared many plans that he will pursue once he is sworn in. One of these will be an increase in tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada. He claims that there will be an imposition of tariffs on China by 10% and 25% for both Mexico and Canada. Trump will impose these tariffs through an Executive Order once he takes office. His motivation for this plan is to stop the drugs and crime that come into the United States through immigrants. Not only is this plan foreseen to have economical consequences, but it is also in violation of the USMCA agreement of 2020.

Starting off, the USMCA agreement was a trade agreement formally known as NAFTA, that allowed free trade among the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This agreement was meant to allow more jobs that were sustainable in the United States and boost the economy among the countries. The violation of this agreement hinders the US economy – and even reliability as this deal was altered and approved among the countries during Trump’s first term.

Since Mexico and Canada are 2 of the top countries that the US imports from, these tariffs will harm industries that will now have rising costs, decreasing supply and ultimately raising prices. Furthermore, if Mexico and Canada choose to continue to raise prices as a way to fight against the agreement violation, imports will substantially decrease in the US.

Not only does this plan have immense economic consequences, but political as well. Since Donald Trump does not want to comply with long-term agreements, it will make it harder for the US to tackle long-term and multi-nation issues as we are seen as less reliable. Therefore, countries will only want to negotiate if it’s a one-time agreement that the US can’t necessarily back out of. This makes it difficult for the US to tackle systemic issues in society, in the economy, or in politics. 

Furthermore, not only will these tariffs have consequences on the USMCA agreement and our economic relations, but it also hurts consumers in the United States. It’s currently projected, based on the impacts of tariffs that were imposed during Trump’s first term, that these tariffs will have impacts on all income groups. In fact, these tariffs are estimated to decrease after tax income anywhere from 1.9% -4.2%. Another impact, which directly contradicts Trump’s reasoning for these tariffs, is that these tariffs will not increase the number of jobs available to Americans. While Trump reasons that job opportunities will increase due to lack of foreign job competition, it’s been seen that, based on tariffs he made to the steel industry during his first term, the jobs available did not decrease, it was rather lower than projected before his tariffs. 

Therefore, it can be seen that Trump’s tariff plan hurts both the domestic economy and foreign relations. As a result, consumers in the United States will be paying higher prices and industries will have a decrease in supply. Trump’s failure to comply with multi-nation agreements will also likely hurt their foreign relations in the long run.


Works Cited

Meltzer, Joshua P. “Assessing Trump's proposed 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada.” Brookings Institution, 3 December 2024, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/assessing-trumps-proposed-25-tariff-on-imports-from-mexico-and-canada/. Accessed 8 January 2025.

“United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.” United States Trade Representative, https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement. Accessed 8 January 2025.

“Would Donald Trump's tariffs hurt US consumers?” BBC, 26 November 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20myx1erl6o. Accessed 8 January 2025.


Breeley Moll

Rogers

11th Grade

Insta- @breeley0212

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