We already know that the tariffs Trump has imposed to date have more or less wiped out the meager benefits that average Americans saw from the GOP's tax cuts, but what will happen if Trump imposes all the other tariffs he has promised?
According to a coalition business lobbies opposed to Trump's trade war, the average American family could see their costs increase from $830 per year to $2,294 per year if Trump imposes tariffs on an additional $300 billion in Chinese goods.
The tariffs already in effect cost the average household about $831, according to research from the New York Federal Reserve.
Add in the additional tariffs on another $300 billion in Chinese goods that Trump proposed in May, and is still considering, and that increases the cost for an average family of four to about $2,294 annually, according to research from “Tariffs Hurt the Heartland,” a coalition of business groups.
And if Trump eventually imposes tariffs of 25 percent on Mexican goods, the number climbs even higher.
If the tariffs [on Mexican goods] reach their highest level, the annual cost to households would increase by $1,700, according to Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the centrist Peterson Institute for International Economics.
The full force of the Chinese and Mexican tariffs and subsequent retaliation would mean that consumers are facing an additional $3,994 in costs because of tariffs, more than four times the $930 tax cut for middle earners that the Republican Party touts as its signature legislative achievement under Trump.
Needless to say, the large majority of American families cannot absorb this and it's going to have to come from somewhere.
Who can say what the so-called Retail Apocalypse will look like if Trump has his way?
As recently as April, Swiss investment bank UBS estimated that up to 75,000 retails stores could close in the next 7 years, and that presumes that a relatively healthy economy will keep sales afloat.