Americans are paying for tariffs
For the Wall Street Journal, Tom Fairless reports on research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy:
By analyzing $4 trillion of shipments between January 2024 and November 2025, the Kiel Institute researchers found that foreign exporters absorbed only about 4% of the burden of last year’s U.S. tariff increases by lowering their prices, while American consumers and importers absorbed 96%.
The tariffs had a significant effect on trade volumes: Facing higher U.S. tariffs, Indian exporters maintained their prices but reduced the volume of shipments to the U.S. by 18%-24% relative to the European Union, Canada and Australia, the report found.
Rather than acting as a tax on foreign producers, the tariffs functioned as a consumption tax on Americans, the report said.
Not ideal.
Find the full Kiel report here.
