[US Election 2024]
As voting for the 47th U.S. presidential election took place on the 5th (local time), an estimate showed that if the tariff pledges made by former Republican President Donald Trump are implemented, American consumers' purchasing power could disappear by up to $78 billion (approximately 107.6 trillion KRW) annually. During his presidency, former President Trump pledged to impose tariffs of 10-20% on products imported from all countries and tariffs exceeding 60% on imports from China.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimated this in its "Impact Estimate of Trump Tariffs" report released on the 4th, dividing the scenarios into one imposing tariffs of 10-20% on all imports and another adding tariffs of 60-100% on Chinese imports. The NRF analyzed six categories: clothing, toys, furniture, electronics, footwear, and travel goods.
Both scenarios are expected to significantly raise the prices of these items. The NRF projected that clothing prices would increase by 12.5-20.6%, toys by 36.3-55.8%, furniture by 6.4-9.5%, electronics by 19.4-31.0%, footwear by 18.1-28.8%, and travel goods by 13.0-21.5%, respectively.
Currently, the tariff rates on these items are mostly single-digit or in the low teens. If universal tariffs of 10-20% and tariffs of 60-100% on Chinese imports are applied, the average tariff rate would exceed 50%. Due to the price increase effect from such tariff hikes, American consumers' purchasing power is expected to decrease annually by $46 billion (63.5 trillion KRW) to $78 billion.
U.S. economic media CNBC reported that a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) report showed that tariffs imposed on imports such as steel and washing machines during Trump's first term failed to increase the total number of jobs in related domestic industries.
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