Economists weigh in on potential local impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans

President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to introduce several tariffs when he takes office in January, including a 25% tax on all goods from Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional 10% tax on goods from China.

He has also threatened to impose a 100% tariff on BRICS countries – including Brazil, Russia, and China – if they move away from the US Dollar.

According to the Associated Press, while the president-elect asserts these measures will create more factory jobs and reduce the cost of goods, some experts and consumers have expressed concern that these tariffs will instead raise the price of many consumer goods.

Experts like Dana Crosby, President of SC Capital Advisors in Rancho Mirage, hope that the president-elect's tariff talk are tools for negotiation rather than set-in-stone pledges.

“Most people think that he's using these as a negotiating tactic, though, because certainly most most economists believe that broad based tariffs on consumer goods are a really bad idea because all they do is really hurt you know, American consumers,” Crosby explains.

Crosby says that it's difficult to speculate how consumers will respond to these potential tariffs.

But according to College of the Desert Political Science and Global Studies professor Dr. Elizabeth Walker, the impacts will be mostly negative, especially in the short-term.

"I mean, there can be a great argument to say it'll eventually bring everything back to the United States. But that's going to take a long time to do. And in the meantime, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to hurt," she explains.

Dr. Walker says the Coachella Valley, in particular, may be impacted heavily, too. According to her, the Coachella Valley accounts for 14% of California's agriculture; she says the tariffs will impact our local farmers.

"You have to realize that that means that there may not be able to sell their product and trade as much as as much, and their profit margin is going to drop significantly as well. And with farmers, their profit margins are not that high anyway," she explains.

“So we do need to realize, is this really the path we want to go down? And if it is, that's fine. Maybe people are willing to take the hurt temporarily, but it's going to be significant.”