who will be hurt the most by Trump’s tariffs?

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This week, in a post on his social media site Truth Social, Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico “as one of my many first Executive Orders”. Trump specified that the tariffs would be 25 per cent on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and added an extra 10 per cent for Chinese goods — accusing these three countries of permitting illegal migration and drug trafficking into the US.

But who will be harmed most? If the majority of American businesses importing goods pass on the cost of the tariff to the person buying the product, US consumers will be hit with higher retail prices. If US businesses absorb the extra costs, it will dent their profits. Or if foreign exporters are forced to lower their wholesale prices by the value of the tariff in order to retain US customers, they will take the hit.

When Trump imposed tariffs in his first term of office between 2017 and 2020, economic studies suggested most of the impact was felt by US consumers. However, some economists predict that this time it is foreign exporters who will bear the brunt.

So what do you think? Who will be most harmed by Trump’s tariffs? Tell us your view by voting in our poll or commenting below the line.