Imagine you are craving some guacamole and need to pick up the key ingredient– avocados. So, you take a trip to the grocery store. As you stroll down the produce aisle, you are shocked to see the prices have massively increased.   

This is the reality of President Trump’s tariffs. What is a tariff? In simple terms, it is a tax on imports. President Donald Trump recently tried to invoke a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, but then put a one-month pause on imposing. He invoked an additional 10% tariff on China. His rationale for these tariffs was for two major reasons. The first key reason was to bolster the U.S.’ domestic industry by increasing jobs for U.S. workers, increasing U.S. production, and thus increasing our GDP. The second reason he invoked these tariffs was as a warning.  As national security is claimed to be at the forefront of his policies, he wants to limit the number of illegal border crossings.  Border crossings fluctuate, but under the early years of the Biden administration, the number of illegal immigrants increased significantly. 

President Trump, justifiably, proclaims he wants to protect and create U.S. jobs. While tariffs may, in theory, be beneficial for this, they can also hurt industry. Trump recently imposed a 25% tariff on all steel imports, and he took a similar action in 2018. It resulted in a loss of jobs in the U.S. steel industry and no substantive, positive effect on U.S. industry. However, it is important to note the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a zero-tariff policy among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, contributed to this. Free trade is important to  a global economy and lower consumer costs. But, given that labor costs are cheaper in countries like Mexico, some manufacturing jobs moved there; a possible explanation for the decrease in domestic jobs. Additionally, many manufacturing lines are automated now, which is another contributing factor. Though, it is possible that domestic jobs would have decreased even further if tariffs had not been invoked. One junior at PDS shared that “tariffs affect everyone, but they do not affect everyone equally.” Initially, businesses must bear the brunt of the import tax. At the end of the day though, businesses would not willingly take a hit to their revenue, so they add the additional price to their products. Now, consumers pay that price. President Trump is betting that tariffs will lead to consumers purchasing more products domestically because they would not have that additional tax. 

Tariffs have mixed effects. Junior Riya Mani offered a unique perspective, “Creating tariffs cannot solve systemic societal issues that drive the immigration problem.” However, this may incentivize the Mexican government to work harder to crack down on illegal emigration to the States. Either way, tariffs could boost domestic industry.

Trump is economically conservative. He plans to  create tax cuts  and wants to eliminate tax on social security,  overtime pay, and tip income.. To reduce the staggering  $36 trillion national debt, he must cut spending, and  must reduce the deficit elsewhere. He issued an executive order to eliminate further production of the penny, but that will only reduce federal expenses by a marginal amount, consequently, he continues to push tariffs.  It is likely that other countries will respond with retaliatory tariffs. Costs could  end up cancelling out causing a trade war to ensue. Typically, the most economically powerful country would win, but no one can predict the volatile future. 

An upperclassman summerised Trump’s plan, “Frankly, The President looks to establish more control of the United States and international trade.” In the end, it is unpredictable and may not definitively help or hurt the U.S.. Though, it may cause unintended consequences like dampening the U.S.’ long-term trade relationships. Let’s hope that in the future  we can all gather and enjoy guacamole at a reasonable price.

Works Cited

Chu, Ben. “Will Donald Trump’s tariffs hurt US consumers?” BBC News, 10 Feb. 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20myx1erl6o

Gilder, Lucy. “How many migrants have crossed the US border illegally?” BBC News, 10 Feb. 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jp4xqx2z3o

Newman, Rick. “Why Trump Is Killing the Penny and Ransacking the Government.”Yahoo Finance, 10 Feb. 2025, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/newman-why-trump-is-killing-the-penny-and-ransacking-the-government-201615375.html.