President Trump on Saturday signed executive orders imposing sweeping tariffs on the country’s three largest trading partners, a move that risks unleashing a damaging trade war.Trade wars were a feature of Mr.Trump’s first term in the White House, too.
But his latest tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, which are set to take effect at 12:01 a.m.Eastern time on Tuesday, significantly broaden the scale of disruptions.
More than a third of the goods and services imported to or bought from the United States are linked to the three countries, supporting tens of millions of American jobs.Here’s what to know about the anticipated fallout from the tariffs:How sweeping are the tariffs?All goods imported from Canada and Mexico will be subject to a 25 percent tariff, except Canadian energy products, which will be hit with a 10 percent tariff, according to the executive orders.The orders also placed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods.The auto and electric equipment sectors in Mexico are most exposed to disruption from sweeping tariffs, as is mineral processing in Canada, according to economists at S&P Global.
In the United States, the largest risks are to farming, fishing, metal and auto production.What should consumers expect?U.S.companies will probably respond to tariffs in different ways.
Some may try to pass the cost on to their customers by raising prices.Others may opt to eat the cost of the tariff.
Companies may also try to force foreign suppliers to bear the burden by negotiating lower prices for their products.But when Mr.Trump imposed tariffs on China during his first term, economic studies found that most of those costs were passed on to American consumers — a scenario that is likely to play out once again.
That could mean higher prices in grocery aisles, at car dealerships and at the pump.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If yo...