Trump’s tariffs have finally kicked in

DONALD TRUMP’S new international trade tariffs have landed.

- MAHA RAFI ATAL

Some are lower than others, some deals have been done—but overall, they are the highest they have been in 100 years.

They are also unprecedented in the era of the rules-based trade system that has been in place since 1945.

That's a tricky question to answer, given that the US president has already pressed the pause button on this economic policy before—but assuming that this doesn’t happen again straight away, we can make some confident predictions about the consequences.

First off, the immediate economic effect will be felt by American consumers. JP Morgan, the biggest bank in the US, estimates that 60% of the cost of Trump’s tariffs will be passed directly on to his fellow citizens.

And that’s just the start. Most goods bought in the US—whether they're electrical items, cars, medical devices, processed foods or makeup sets—are made up of dozens of components, sourced from multiple countries.

A finished product may therefore be ‘tariffed’ several times before it reaches the shelf, adding to the final price rise.