Why Tariffs Are the Gift That Keeps on Taking from American Families, Businesses, and Workers
Who needs affordable goods, stable markets, or export growth when you have tariffs? That’s right—nothing says “economic strategy” quite like charging your own people more for the stuff they already buy. Slapping taxes on imports is often sold as a heroic move to protect American jobs and industries, but in practice, it tends to do something else entirely: quietly empty wallets across the country and hand the bill to, well… everyone except the foreign countries we’re supposedly punishing.
Let’s start with the obvious: when you tax imported goods, they get more expensive. Groundbreaking, right? But somehow, this fact keeps getting lost in translation. Trump may be pitching tariffs as a way to stick it to foreign suppliers, but—spoiler alert—it’s American consumers who foot the bill. According to TaxFoundation.org, tariffs will reduce after-tax income by an average of 1.2 percent and amount to an average tax increase of \$1,243 per U.S. household in 2025.
Of course, it’s not just shoppers feeling the burn. Businesses—especially small ones without lobbyists or billion-dollar cushions—get to enjoy the privilege of higher input costs.
You might think tariffs are just about rising prices and struggling businesses, but their effects stretch much further—like right into the heart of America’s tourism industry in 2025. When the U.S. taxes its way into tense trade relationships, foreign tourists don’t exactly line up to spend their vacation dollars here.
Already in 2025, analysts are reporting a slower-than-expected international tourism recovery in the U.S.—and guess what’s not helping? Ongoing trade spats and retaliatory rhetoric. Countries that once sent millions of visitors annually—like China, Germany, and Brazil—are now showing declines in outbound travel to the U.S.
Fewer tourists mean less spending in hotels, restaurants, national parks, and theme parks—bad news for large cities and coastal destinations that rely heavily on tourism. And who suffers most? The millions of American workers in hospitality, food service, and entertainment who depend on tourism for their livelihoods.
Tariffs are often hailed as a strategic play—economic jujitsu to outmaneuver rivals. But when the dust settles, the scoreboard usually tells a different story: Americans pay more. Businesses lose ground. The tourism industry slows down.
So the next time you hear that tariffs are making America great again, ask yourself: great for whom?
