USA: Trump's latest tariffs directly threaten consumers

Previous tariffs established by President Donald Trump in the Sino-US trade war had little impact on consumers. It will be much different with those announced Thursday.

"This affects consumers frontally," said Steve Pasierb, president of the US Toy Federation, in an interview. "It's finished products, not raw material".

The new 10% tariffs on the $ 300 billion of previously unrecorded Chinese imports are due to come into effect on Sept. 1, according to Trump.

They will involve pell-mell hair dryers, sneakers, flat-screen TVs or wedding dresses.

US distributors have been dreading this measure for months.

"It's very unfair to the American consumer, it's very unfair to the manufacturer," said Stephen Lang, executive director of Mon Cheri Bridals in New Jersey and president of the Federation of Apparel for Weddings and Dances the end of the year.

Trump also warned he could raise tariffs further if Beijing does not accept US requirements and talks about "well over 25 percent." A perspective considered catastrophic by Mr. Lang.

"There is too much testosterone between this government and theirs (the Chinese, ed), and we find ourselves caught between two fires," he says.

– 'Wrong strategy' –

Several professional federations have criticized the initiative of the American president.

"We support the administration's goal of restructuring the US-China trade relationship, but we are disappointed that the administration is relying on a flawed customs tax strategy," said the vice president. from the National Retail Federation, David French, in a statement.

"These additional tariffs will only threaten American jobs and increase the cost of consumer goods for American families," he adds.

"Tariff retaliation, whether it's 10% or 25%, is an unwelcome decision," said Gary Shapiro, president of the lobby of the major electronics groups CTA. "Customs duties are taxes paid by US consumers, not by the Chinese government."

Shares of distribution groups fell sharply on Thursday, particularly Best Buy, Target and Macy's. To a lesser degree, Apple and Nike have also lost feathers.

The shares of the Amazon and Walmart giants have also declined, but less than most of their competitors because they are perceived as having more weight with their suppliers.

In May, Walmart CFO Brett Biggs said his trade teams were working on tariffs "for months" and were working on "appropriate mitigation strategies", while warning that some impact on prices would be inevitable.

The Best Buy group refused to rule Thursday, but had already risen against tariffs in June.

"Best Buy respectfully suggests that the US Trade Representative does not impose tariffs on the consumer's finances, as he did last year when he judiciously chose to waive the imposition of customs duties. on flat-screen TVs and other consumer electronics because of the negative consequences for the US economy and consumers, "the group wrote in a letter.

Thursday's decision could threaten consumer spending in the United States, a pillar of US growth, which continues to show strong performance so far.

Mr. Pasierb of the Toy Federation notes that the effect of the new tariffs may be somewhat offset by the fact that many retailers, as a precaution, have imported goods from the beginning of the year.

Some might also decide not to pbad on the costs to customers by agreeing to reduce their margins.

But the extension of customs taxes is still a source of concern, "because if all these products become more expensive, you will have less money available for toys," he says.

"My great concern is that it will affect spending in the last three months of the year, which corresponds to our decisive period," he punctuated.

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