Who pays the tariff?
To anyone who has been following the news in the past day, this question has suddenly taken on outsized importance. With the US Government firing the opening salvos in a global trade war, we have seen in just one day:
- The US stock market fall 5%
- International stock markets fall 2%
- Inflation projected to rise to 4%
- GDP forecasts downgraded, and even at risk of a recession
All of which begs the question: is this what voters want?
Which once again turns on our original question… Who pays the tariff?
This is an objective, factual question. When a domestic retailer (like Walmart) imports goods from a foreign manufacturer, and the government decides to impose tariffs, they are collecting dollars and cents from someone. Who are they collecting it from?
Interestingly, American voters are completely divided on this question:
- 25% think that the foreign manufacturer has to pay the tariff
- 17% think that the foreign government has to pay the tariff
- 35% think that the domestic retailer has to pay the tariff
- 23% think that the consumer, the average Joe, has to pay the tariff
There is no politics involved in answering the above question. It is a purely objective, logistical, bureaucratic question. And yet, depending on how people answer that question, their opinions on tariff-policy make a complete U-turn:
- Among people who think that foreign companies/governments pay the tariff, a slight majority (51%) support raising tariffs
- Among people who think that local companies/individuals pay the tariff, only a tiny fraction (22%) support raising tariffs
Given that this question has such a huge impact on support for tariffs, one would hope that voters are well-informed about the issues before voting for/against a Presidential candidate who calls himself the “Tariff Man”. Sadly, as can be seen from the above poll, the vast majority have no idea.
Is it any wonder that public confidence in our government is abysmally low? Voters are electing politicians based on their support for various public policies… while simultaneously being woefully misinformed about the basic facts that underpin their support for that public policy. And then we wonder why our government is so incompetent as to decimate our retirement savings and drag our economy into a recession.
This is precisely why our political system is in need of significant reform. This is precisely why I and many others want to put an end to mob rule, and instead have courtroom juries elect our political representatives. Learn more at https://www.electionbyjury.org/
Related links:
Election by Jury – an introduction
Election by Jury – as described by H.G. Wells
How Jury-Elections can combat ignorance, misinformation, and echo chambers
Outlook Zen 