Your Holiday Gift Contains a Lump of Tariffs
Holiday cheer has some unexpected costs this year.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick say the tariffs imposed on imports to the US aren't a tax on American consumers. Never mind that any credible economist says the opposite. The nonprofit Tax Foundation figures the duties equate to an average tax increase of $1,000 per household this year, rising to $1,400 in 2026.
Don’t I know it. And so will the millions of other Americans who are purchasing goods at stores and online this holiday season for family and friends. For me, the number that shocks is 10. That's the additional cost of acquiring a set of bow ties from the UK, one of the more than 200 countries – allies and adversaries alike - that Trump has imposed tariffs on for most imported goods.