Commerce secretary says president would determine whether to stick with the planned level in first indication it could change

Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China could force American consumers to pay an average of $1,200 more per year, a prominent economic thinktank warns.

An analysis from the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that the tariffs would prompt retaliation from foreign governments, harming economic growth and leading to higher import costs that would be passed on to American households. Here’s more:

This past weekend, President Donald Trump announced the largest tax increase in at least a generation (since 1993 or before), with the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on most goods from Canada and Mexico (aside from Canadian energy, which faces a 10 percent tariff), alongside a 10 percent increase in tariffs on goods from China. The direct cost of these actions to the typical, or median, US household would be a tax increase of more than $1,200 a year.

These announcements mark the first wave of tariffs expected to come from the new Trump administration. Trump has threatened the entire world with tariffs. Further, governments abroad will retaliate; both Canada and Mexico have already announced retaliatory measures. Future waves of US tariffs and retaliation will increase these substantial consumer costs alongside the other economic harms of tariffs: reduced economic growth, a shrinking export sector, and supply chain disruption. …