Skip to Content

Articles

Beyer Releases Joint Economic Committee Report Showing Trump Tariffs Will Cost American Families Thousands

Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), who serves as Senior House Democrat on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee (JEC), today released a new JEC report on the economic effects of President Trump’s latest tariffs. The report, titled “Trump’s Tariff Plans Will Drive Up Costs For The Average American Family Between $1,600 And $2,000 Per Year,” highlighted impacts and raised costs of the increased tariffs the President imposed today on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China.

“The tariffs Trump just imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China will raise costs by up to $2,000 per year for an average American family,” said Beyer. “The trade war Trump is igniting will weaken our economy and cause chaos in our marketplace as Americans pay the cost in the form of higher prices on everyday items. While our report does not touch on this, these tariffs will also lead to retaliation that badly harms American producers. And they will fail to achieve any of the pretextual objectives Trump has stated for imposing them. Less than two months into his term, Trump is running the economy into the ground and raising a real and growing risk of a recession. Republicans in Congress could stop this at any time by passing legislation I and others have offered to rein in Trump’s abuses of tariff authorities, but they appear content to help Trump raise prices and risk economic disaster.”

The Joint Economic Committee Report is available here. It highlights that costs of specific goods are expected to rise significantly, including: 

  • Electronics, like computers, phones and televisions, will see overall prices rise by over 10%; 
  • The price of cars, foreign and domestic, is expected to increase by over 6%; 
  • Clothing prices are expected to also rise by 7.5%; 
  • Oil will also rise by 1.7% and petroleum and coal products will rise by 1.6%, making it more expensive for families to fill up their tanks and heat their homes; 
  • Fresh produce prices will rise by nearly 3%, rice prices will increase by 4.4%, and food prices overall are expected to rise by 2%.

Rep. Beyer is the Senior House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee. He serves on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, and is Chair of the New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force. Beyer is co-lead of legislation, with Rep. Suzan DelBene, of legislation to rein in Donald Trump’s abuses of tariff authorities.