Trump's Tariffs

     Recently there has been a lot of talk on Trump's economic plan and his planned use of tariffs. I know from people I have been talking with in the past few days that there has been a lot of confusion over this. In this weeks blog post I want to talk about what tariffs are, and what they do, and what they actually mean for the economy,

    So first lets talk about what a tariff actually is. A tariff by definition is a tax imposed by a government or organization on the import or export of goods. What this means is that whenever a company or organization brings something in to the country or sends it out they have to pay a little more than the base price of completing that transaction. It is important to note though what some of what Trump is seeking to accomplish is a form of protective tariff, which seeks to protect the industry of the country imposing the tariff. It is also important to note a key fact that contradicts what Trump has claimed. He has stated that foreign countries will have to pay for the tariffs, but it will actually be the companies importing the good who will have to pay tariffs imposed on foreign goods. So what has Trump actually proposed to do? First he has stated that he will impose a 60% tariff on goods imported from China with a 10% - 20% tariff on goods imported from other countries. So what will the tariffs actually accomplish? Well there have been conflicting reports and statements all around. The Trump campaign has stated that these tariff's will reduce inflation and bring American jobs back home, while other experts have claimed that these tariffs actually have the possibility to raise inflation as the increased costs of importing goods could be passed on tot he consumer.