Donald Trump’s Tariffs Would Hit His Own Businesses

Donald Trump’s proposals to put large tariffs on the sale of foreign goods in the United States could end up hitting his own businesses, with Newsweek finding products sold by the Republican presidential nominee were made in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

During his presidential campaign, Trump has called for tariffs of 10-20 percent on “countries that have been ripping us off,” along with tariffs of at least 60 percent on products from China specifically. Speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday, Trump suggested he could introduce tariffs of up to 2,000 percent on some foreign cars, commenting: “If I’m going to be president of this country I’m going to put a 100, 200, 2,000 percent tariff.”

He said the tariffs would force companies to build more factories in the U.S., boosting jobs. However, economic experts told Newsweek tariffs would lead to higher prices for American consumers.

When Newsweek reporter Jesus Mesa visited Trump Tower in Manhattan on October 11, he found a wide range of Trump-branded merchandise was for sale that was labeled as being made outside the United States. These included drinking flasks, jackets, baseball caps and woolly hats made in China, shirts and jackets made in Vietnam and towels from Bangladesh.

Newsweek contacted representatives of the Trump Organization and Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential election campaign for comment via email.

Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported Trump’s God Bless the USA Bibles, which the former president is selling for $59.99, are being made in China at a cost of less than $3 per book. Each God Bless the USA Bible includes a King James Version translation, the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as the handwritten chorus of “God Bless the USA” from country singer Lee Greenwood.

Speaking to Newsweek, Mark Shanahan, an expert in U.S. politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., said Trump selling foreign products opens him up to charges of hypocrisy.

He said: “Donald Trump is the master of, ‘Do as I say, not as I do,’ criticizing the impact of rapacious Chinese businesses on [the] U.S. while price gouging on his own products by sourcing them whole, or components for them from China.”

Referring to the impact of tariffs, Shanahan added: “The former president sees international relations solely as a global business deal and likes to give the impression of being tough on Xi Jinping, the Chinese premier by his tariff policy. Yet in reality, it’s the American consumer who will pick up the cost.

“Chinese exports account for around 16.5 percent of total U.S. imports, but much of that trade is made up of components for the motor industry, entertainment products and pharmaceuticals where there is no direct US manufacturing rival. This won’t boost American trade, it’ll just make the cost of living a little more expensive.”

Abigail Cooke, an international trade expert who teaches at the University at Buffalo in New York, told Newsweek Trump-owned companies would likely pass on any costs associated with increased tariffs onto customers by increasing prices.

She said: “If tariffs were raised by a second Trump administration on product categories coming from China that included merchandise that Trump-owned companies were importing to sell in the U.S., the Trump-owned companies would pay the tariffs on those imports. They could chose to eat those extra costs, cutting into their profits, but much more likely, they would pass along the costs of the tariffs to American customers who are ultimately buying those products.”

During Tuesday’s Economic Club of Chicago appearance, Trump argued tariffs on foreign products would help reindustrialize America.

He said: “The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff.”

Trump added: “There are no tariffs. All you have to do is build your plant in the United States, and you don’t have any tariffs.”

Speaking to Newsweek, Republican National Committee spokesperson Anna Kelly said: “In his first term, President Trump instituted tariffs against China that created jobs, spurred investment, and resulted in no inflation. Now, Kamala Harris is trying to fearmonger and lie about his plan—even though she and Joe Biden kept the Trump era tariffs in place, and she is now stealing President Trump’s plan for her campaign.”

Woan Foong, an economist at the University of Oregon who specializes in international trade, told Newsweek Trump’s proposed tariffs could result in companies relocating more of their manufacturing to the U.S. but that this would likely result in higher prices for American consumers.

She said: “Import tariffs on China would affect businesses who import inputs from China or import their products from China after having them made there. If the business decides to reshore, i.e. make these inputs/products in the U.S. instead of China, then they might be excluded from these tariffs. However, this would likely mean higher costs which would result in these businesses needing to charge higher prices for the same products.”

A recent Financial Times investigation found over 90 percent of the top-selling hats and flags for sale on Amazon supporting Trump or Harris were registered to a seller’s address in China. There is no indication any of these Amazon accounts were linked to either official campaign. On their websites, both candidates say they only sell products made in the U.S.

Newsweek approached Kamala Harris’ campaign for comment.

In 2018, a Newsweek investigation found 90,000 “Keep America Great” banners were being made in eastern China ahead of Trump’s 2020 election campaign.

Trump’s sale of foreign products has been targeted by his political rivals before including Senator Marco Rubio, who in March 2016 issued a press release saying his then GOP primary rival “proudly outsources jobs to China, Mexico & other countries.”

During his presidency, Trump introduced a number of major tariffs, including an import tax of 20-50 percent on solar panels and washing machines introduced in January 2018.

Two months later, Trump also introduced steel and aluminium tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent for most countries, sparking retaliatory tariffs on American products from a number of countries including China, India and Canada.