Tariff Incidence in the Real World: Why Consumers (Mostly) Didn’t Pay the Steel Tariffs

Summary points: The import price of steel fell in the period following the 2018 imposition of a 25% steel tariff, an indicator that steel tariffs were not passed entirely onto consumers. Steel tariffs did not lead to a proportional rise in consumer prices of steel-intensive goods, such as automobiles. In many instances, firms will internalize…

Worker-Centered Trade Means Reshoring U.S. Industries

In June, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai gave a speech in which she outlined her vision of worker-centered trade, a popular phrase among Biden administration officials. According to Tai: “Build Back Better starts by growing the economy from the bottom up and the middle out and putting workers at the center of our economic plans…In…

Restarting Tariff Exclusions Undermines Build Back Better, Rewards CCP Recalcitrance

By Charles Benoit, CPA Trade Counsel Regrettably, the Biden Administration announced last week that they’re open to tariff cuts to imports of Made-in-China merchandise. First up are 549 different products, mostly machinery and technology products. But more may be coming. Ambassador Tai stated in her recent speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies…