The Republican controlled White House has imposed severe tariffs at 25% on its neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Both countries have naturally retaliated in what has become a trade war between former allies.
Professor Brett House, an economist from Columbia Business School, said just about every US consumer product could expect a price increase.
Nearly 60% of fruits & nuts consumed in the US. are imported highest fruits and nuts, milled grains & oils sweeteners vegetables sugar and confections. The US. is also heavily reliant on imports for seafood, with an estimated 70–85% of seafood consumed domestically coming from international sources.
These neighboring countries are responsible for much of the food consumed in the US. This includes basic needs such as vegetables, fruits, prepared foods, and animal products.
In Traceone - Mexico exported over $44 billion of food products to the US in 2023. The biggest category of agricultural imports from Mexico last year was fresh fruits, of which the US imported $9 billion worth, with avocados accounting for $3.1 billion of that total. Because of growing condition constraints, it is more costly to grow fruits and vegetables than it is to import these basic needs from other countries.
Canada exported $38 billion with bread and pastries as its leading category. Canada provides most of the French fries consumed in the US. Cars are imported from both Mexico and Canada.
The already rising cost of lumber will be higher with the new tariffs in place.
It is projected that households could experience a fall in income estimated between $900 and $2576, depending on the source, perhaps higher depending on how other countries retaliate.
The poorer the household, the greater the burden. As witnessed in the White House imposing tariff’s with China in 2018-2019 , Tariffs disproportionately hurt lower-income households in the US, causing larger drops in after-tax income. This is because tariffs are regressive, meaning that lower-income taxpayers paid a larger share of their income in tariffs.
In Time Magazine - In the face of the above uncertainty, writer Simmone Shah gives suggestions about how women can divorce themselves from the current US President’s economy and perhaps express their values as well as saving money, whether it’s staying alive and/or hitting back at large corporations and pricing structures. Sara Belhouari, a financial advisor calls this “financial activism”.