White House Declares New Tariffs Will Raise $6T Over 10 Years — Making it Tantamount to the Largest Tax Increase on Americans in History

White House leadership proudly declares that the new tariffs will raise $6T over the next 10 years, all into the pocket of the federal government. What they aren’t proudly declaring is that Americans will largely absorb the costs of those tariffs, as producers pass higher prices on to consumers — effectively making the tariffs a ‘hidden tax’ on Americans.

• That $6T assumes the tariffs aren’t materially changed through brokering deals with countries, revised based on new calculations, or modified ahead of an election.
• Worse, even domestic-produced goods will likely increase in price — as their imported competition becomes more expensive, many brands will exploit tariff disruption to raise prices.

So much for hidden fees: Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calls them “a tax on everyday working Americans.” Looking at it that way, the $6T levy on imports is tantamount to the single-largest tax increase in US history. It also comes as Republican lawmakers look for ways to continue tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term — cuts that have added billions to the deficit and largely emboldened wealthy Americans.