3 charts that help explain how Trump’s tariffs would work

When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, tariffs are likely to once again play a major role in his policy agenda.

When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, tariffs are likely to once again play a major role in his policy agenda. Since winning the election, Trump has promised to put a new 25% tariff on all products coming from Mexico and Canada, as well as raise tariffs on Chinese-made goods by 10%, on the first day of his administration in an effort to retaliate for illegal immigration and drugs coming across the border. And during his campaign, Trump repeatedly said he plans to impose an across-the-board tariff of either 10% or 20% on every import coming into the US, as well as a tariff upward of 60% on all Chinese imports, in a bid to encourage American manufacturing. “To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. And it’s my favorite word,” Trump said during an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago in mid-October. Trump has described tariffs as a multiuse tool that will punish other countries for unfair trade practices, prevent US companies from moving overseas and bring in billions of dollars to reduce the federal deficit. But as with many economic policies, there are trade-offs, and Trump doesn’t talk about the negative effect tariffs could have on US businesses and consumers. He’s also often falsely described how tariffs work and sparred with Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait during an interview when the journalist argued that the former president was ignoring the fact that tariffs raise prices.