Trump "can't guarantee" his tariffs won't raise prices for American families

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said he “can’t guarantee” that American consumers won’t pay higher prices under his proposed tariff plan in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 

“I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow,” Trump told NBC News host Kristen Welker after she asked him whether he could guarantee American families won’t pay more if he chooses to impose tariffs on the United States' most important trading partners, which he’s repeatedly promised to do.

“But I can say that if you looked at my — just pre-COVID, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And I had a lot of tariffs on a lot of different countries, but in particular China,” Trump added.

Tariffs are taxed imposed by the government on imported or exported goods, but they are paid by the American companies that import those goods, not the country that exports them. When tariffs are imposed, the cost of everything from home goods to electronics increases.

"These new duties are often described as ’tariffs on China’ or ’tariffs on the United States,’ but they’re really taxes on American businesses, workers, and consumers," Ed Gerwin, a senior fellow for trade and global opportunity at the Progressive Policy Institute, previously told Salon. 

Trade taxes on "items like auto parts, electrical components, and machinery will raise costs for American businesses, make it harder for them to compete, and destroy many more American jobs than they protect. And, even if American consumers don’t pay the tariffs directly, they’ll ultimately pay higher prices,” Gerwin added.

Increased tariffs were central to Trump’s presidential campaign. He proposed a 60% increase on imported goods from China, along with a 10% to 20% tariff on goods imported from other countries. Last month, Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico unless they crack down on migrants passing through their borders.

“I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they’re beautiful. It’s going to make us rich,” Trump said on NBC. “If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state. We’re subsidizing Mexico and we’re subsidizing Canada and we’re subsidizing many countries all over the world. And all I want to do is I want to have a level, fast, but fair playing field.”

China, Canada and Mexico, make up nearly half of U.S. import volumes. American consumers could lose as much as $1,200 in purchasing power, according to an estimate from The Budget Lab at Yale University shared with NBC. 

“Another way to think about this is it’s 4 to 5 months of a normal year’s inflation in one fell swoop,” Ernie Tedeschi, The Budget Lab’s director told NBC.

Several companies, including Walmart and Best Buy, have already said the president-elect’s trade plan will likely force them to raise prices.

Despite these warnings and countless others from economic experts, Trump remains steadfast that tariffs will create jobs and benefit Americans. When Welker pointed out that tariffs from Trump’s first term “cost Americans some $80 billion,” Trump responded that tariffs “cost Americans nothing.”

“They have many purposes, tariffs, if properly used. I don’t say you use them like a madman, I say properly used. But it didn’t cost this country anything. It made this country money,” the president-elect said.