Consumers and businesses paid nearly 90% of Trump tariffs in 2025(cbsnews.com)
cbsnews.com
Consumers and businesses paid nearly 90% of Trump tariffs in 2025
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tariffs-consumers-business-nearly-90-percent-new-york-federal-reserve/
7 comments
Stealth federal sales tax.
Which isn't a huge surprise given that's exactly what tariffs are designed to do...
No surprise either that this does not necessarily translate into an advantage for US business and consumers.
Of course they did.
The surprising part is that it hasn't resulted in more inflation. We just got new figures; inflation was 2.4% last month. For all of 2025, inflation was 2.7%.
Those aren't great numbers, of course, but they're not a crisis. It's actually slightly less than the 2.9% for 2024. (Admittedly, a number that was treated as a crisis at the time.)
TFA says a total of $285 billion was collected -- almost $1,000 per person. That's not a number that just gets lost in the wash. So why isn't it showing up in other numbers?
The surprising part is that it hasn't resulted in more inflation. We just got new figures; inflation was 2.4% last month. For all of 2025, inflation was 2.7%.
Those aren't great numbers, of course, but they're not a crisis. It's actually slightly less than the 2.9% for 2024. (Admittedly, a number that was treated as a crisis at the time.)
TFA says a total of $285 billion was collected -- almost $1,000 per person. That's not a number that just gets lost in the wash. So why isn't it showing up in other numbers?
A tax in but the name.