President Donald J. Trump promised to fix the economy when he was elected saying “Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.” Yet we find ourselves in an economic slump where eggs are $6.23 a dozen on average (25.7% higher than in January), average grocery prices were about 2.41% higher in March 2025 than they were in March 2024, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 10% since the beginning of the year, and prices will increase with the impending tariffs.
What are tariffs, why are they making everything so expensive, and why is the President doing this? Tariffs are taxes placed on goods that are imported from one country to another that the importer pays, making the imported goods more expensive and, in theory, encouraging people to buy products made here. However, almost nothing is entirely produced here, and even American-made products require parts that are made in China and will therefore be affected by these tariffs.
High resource tariffs, specifically on things like steel will raise the price of items, even if they are made completely in the US. For example, we have a 25% tariff on Chinese steel, so even if a car is built completely in the US, the steel that it is made with is from China and the price will increase anyway. The U.S. and China are currently issuing retaliatory tariffs back and forth with our current threat being 254% tariffs on all Chinese goods.
How is this affecting the economy, why is the president doing it? Aside from tariffs on China, there is a 10% global tariff and a 90 day pause before deciding on whether there will be more higher country specific tariffs. These tariffs hope to create jobs, revitalize the middle class, and bring manufacturing back to America, however currently just over 8% of Americans work in manufacturing, we can’t support the level of output needed to be able to not rely on foreign labor.
Tariff threats are creating huge fluctuations in the stock market. When Trump announces a new tariff that will dramatically raise prices, it induces market panic and stock prices have plummeted. Trump’s Truth Social posts have insinuated that it’s a great time to buy stock when the market is low, however most average American’s aren’t in the position to buy and sell stock while the country is in a cost of living crisis.