Comprehensive analysis of tariff impacts shows that US consumers and businesses have borne approximately 80 percent of the cost of tariffs imposed since 2018, with foreign exporters absorbing only a small share through price reductions. Goods subject to tariffs include washing machines, solar panels, steel, aluminum, and a wide range of consumer electronics and industrial components.
The current administration has expanded tariff coverage while arguing the measures protect American manufacturing jobs. Critics counter that the job-preservation math does not add up when downstream industries affected by tariff-driven input cost increases are included. Economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research estimate that each manufacturing job preserved by steel tariffs costs consuming industries between 12 and 650 thousand dollars annually in higher input costs.
