Interestingly enough it appears we are at a 2 to 1 deficit with most countries. Exceptions I have heard of are China, India and Mexico. (not sure about Canada) Now this is hearsay from multiple sources, I am sure if someone wanted they could delve into government info and find out. Not something I am inclined to do at the moment so those of you who read this and want that precise info, have at it ..lol

One thing for sure tariffs do not cause inflation. India has more tariffs than any other country and are not experiencing inflation. This line of argument is fear mongering in an attempt to scare people. They are like most things properly managed.

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When the Columbia tariff row happened AOC came out bemoaning that coffee process would go through the roof. She was all over the news. This was an outright lie and fear mongering raised to an Oscar level performance. . First coffee has risen over 300% over the last 4 years. Second Columbia only provides 22% of the imported coffee in the US. In this case we would just increase purchases from other sources. That is why they caved so quick. There are very few items that are sole sourced that we import.

So why all the nervousness? Well, tariffs are collected and go the the government. It is a cost just like anything else. Actually it is a use cost. The more you buy or use the more of it you pay. Higher income people buy more stuff and use more resources than lower income people. It actually has a greater effect on higher income people. In the EU they call it a VAT tax which they can and do make many of our companies pay. This is on top of the tariffs.

These tariffs can be used to offset income taxes charged to citizens, say tax on tips etc?

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