The major averages went from green to red this morning as the following comments were being made:
“We’re taking in billions of dollars in tariffs. China is subsidizing product, so the United States taxpayer is paying for very little of it. And if you look at inflation, and if you look at pricing, it’s gone up very little.”
President Donald J. Trump
Translation: U.S. importers are paying billions of dollars in tariffs. China is [has been for a very long time] subsiding product; essentially using their taxpayers’ money to provide cheap goods for U.S. taxpayers. Inflation remains muted as, to this point, the importers have taken the hit themselves: I.e., keeping prices to this point relatively stable. However, in multiple earnings conference calls over the past few weeks, U.S. importers have stated that they’ll have to pass the bulk of the pending tariff (tax!) increase onto their customers.
Here’s a brief (must watch!!) something (that I produced during the Obama Administration by the way) to help you understand my subsidies comment above: