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It has become almost a rite of passage for Donald Trump and his supporters to believe that tariffs can magically mend the economy. However, the fundamental misunderstanding here is that tariffs are not a bill sent to foreign governments; they are, in truth, a cost passed directly onto American consumers.
Despite evidence indicating that his initial wave of tariffs is nudging the economy closer to recession, Trump has doubled down on his strategy of economic turmoil by announcing plans to impose tariffs on prescription drugs, which could inflate prices even further for American consumers.
While addressing an audience in the Oval Office, Trump proclaimed:
Itâs also exciting because of whatâs happening with other aspects. Weâre gonna be doing tariffs on pharmaceuticals in order to bring our pharmaceutical industry back. We donât make anything here for, in terms of drugs, medical drugs, different types of drugs that you need. Medicines in other countries, largely made in China.
A lot of it made in Ireland. Ireland was very smart. We love Ireland. But, weâre gonna have that, weâre gonna have lumber. Weâre gonna free up some of our land, and youâll be able to meet a lot of other standards like fire cuts. If Los Angeles had fire cuts, which they didnât have, thatâs a, a gap of half a football field between areas, you wouldnât have had the fires, they wouldâve been contained.
But you have fire cuts. And by the way, you sell that wood for a lot of money, a lot of, lot of profit.
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Perhaps the most significant announcement was Trumpâs decision to impose a hefty 25% tariff on all automobiles not manufactured in the United Statesâeffectively targeting nearly every car on the road today.
