Professor Ross Burkhart was quoted in an article published recently by PolitiFact, a fact-checking media organization. The article, “New Trump tariffs could put even more downward pressure on economy because they’re less targeted,” focuses on what academic studies demonstrate about the broad impacts on national economies when tariff rates are increased. Burkhart stated that the general consensus is that tariffs lead to lower economic output and higher prices.
Burkhart shared his observation that when tariffs are applied across the board, as President Trump has proposed on goods from Canada, China and Mexico, the impacts cannot be avoided by finding substitute products or putting off purchases altogether. Therefore, Burkhart explained, since such a large range of goods are affected by tariffs, consumers are faced with the higher prices and lower supply of items.