Trump and the GOP's tax cuts for corporations and wealthy shareholders afforded a very small benefit to middle and low income earners, but those benefits already have or soon will be wiped out by Trump's trade war.
According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, the situation is even worse for some families who will see their net taxes go up this year as a result of Trump's trade war.
From the New York Times:
Accounting for both the tax cuts and the full range of tariffs, the Tax Foundation estimates, the lowest-earning fifth of American taxpayers would see an effective tax increase of 1.1 percent of their income this year. Those in the middle fifth would see a 0.3 percent tax increase. Upper-middle-class earners would have their gains from tax cuts wiped out. Only the top 5 percent of earners would continue to see a net tax cut of more than 1 percent on the year.
Even if Mr. Trump does not follow through with auto tariffs, his plan to tax all Chinese and Mexican goods would still amount to a net tax increase for the poorest Americans, the Tax Foundation found. Middle-class taxpayers would effectively lose the benefits of their tax cuts but pay no additional tax. The rich would continue to enjoy a net tax cut.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimates that the average American household will see their costs increase by over $800 this year following Trump's decision to increase tariffs on Chinese goods from 10 to 25 percent.
Critically, that does not include Trump's upcoming tariffs on an additional $300 billion in Chinese goods which he might impose at the end of this month. I can scarcely imagine how much that will increase costs for average families if Trump goes through with it.
I'm not going to say you should build a bunker and stock it with nonperishable goods like a doomsday prepper, but I personally decided to buy new shoes and a few other things sooner rather than later. The cost of groceries could also increase in the coming months if Trump proceeds with his tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico.