And the president called it winning.
Tariffs were never policy. They were performance. A punchline with a price tag.
And it still rings up at ninety-six bucks.
Bibliography
1. Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Euijin Jung. The Costs of Trump’s Tariffs . Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2019. This report quantifies the economic impact of U.S. tariffs, including consumer costs and job effects, and explains why tariffs function as taxes on Americans.
2. Mary E. Lovely. The Hidden Costs of Trump’s Trade Wars . Council on Foreign Relations, 2021. This expert brief outlines the retaliatory consequences of U.S. trade policy and the long-term harm to U.S. exporters and global trust.
3. Jason Furman. “Tariffs Are Worse Than Taxes.” Interview with The New York Times , August 2018. Furman, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, argues that tariffs are more damaging than income taxes because of their regressive effects.
4. Chad P. Bown. “Trump’s Trade War Timeline: An Up-to-Date Guide.” Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2023. A comprehensive chronology of U.S. and global tariff actions, including analysis of inflationary effects on consumer goods.
5. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm Sector Income Forecast . Economic Research Service, 2020. Provides data on the collapse in soybean exports, the scale of farmer bailouts, and long-term export market loss due to Chinese retaliation.
6. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Situation Summary – July 2025 . U.S. Department of Labor, August 1, 2025. Official labor report showing reduced job growth and downward revisions to earlier employment figures.
7. World Trade Organization. World Tariff Profiles 2017 & 2019 . WTO and International Trade Centre, Geneva. Offers side-by-side comparison of average tariff rates by country, showing China’s pre- and post-trade war positions.