On April 2, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a minimum 10% tariff on all U.S. imports effective April 5. This day was called “Liberation Day.”
During the week of April 11-17, the prices of tank tops from SHEIN and TEMU were tracked. The SHEIN tank top (pictured to the side) started at $4.79, and the TEMU tank top (pictured to the side) started at $7.58. At the end of the week, the prices changed drastically, with the SHEIN tank top costing $5.99 and the TEMU tank top costing $4.69.
Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods from foreign countries into the United States. The tariffs increase imported goods’ prices, drastically increasing consumers’ prices.
“Tariffs lessen foreign competition of importation, domestic manufacturers can increase rates below the duty rate with minimal regard, especially if collusion is happening. In addition, tariffs will dramatically cause products requiring imports of resources not abundant within the US to cost more in fabrication,” Warren Deaton (11) said.
General examples of this include taxes on minerals, food, and clothing items.
“For example, anything requiring rare earth minerals will likely cost more to produce and thus to purchase as the majority of US supply is from China, beneath a functional trade embargo,” added Deaton.
Many students from Highlands order from SHEIN or TEMU and are worried about the tariffs, how they will affect the prices, and how they will affect consumers.
“I think prices will increase, which will cause products to get more expensive. I think the number of customers will decrease because of this. They will focus more on what they need, not their wants,” Addyson Eifert (11) said.
The tariffs will encourage Americans to buy more American-made products, which will lead to new opportunities for the country and its citizens.
“Tariffs will affect customers by raising the prices of foreign goods, and it will lead to a growth in Americans buying American-made goods, thus causing a boost to industrialization in the US, also causing more jobs,” Joseph Frost (12) said.
Some students have seen a difference in prices, and some have not. Depending on what is being purchased, the prices vary, either going up or down. These tariffs pose a threat to the economy because no one knows how they will affect it. Some items that have gone up in price are books, clothes, and the pricing of shipping on items from these sites.
“Tariffs being paused and reactivated by the government have made product pricing, stock, and bonds pretty unstable. Only time will tell if the tariffs will crash the economy or do little to it. But there is no realistic chance the economy will improve with the current state of manufacturing and imports of the U.S,” Evan Hart (11) said.
The manufacturing of items to build something else can pose an issue because these items are important, and some students have seen the prices go up on items.
“There has been a huge swing in prices, but that is mainly because the United States has no great industry in the terms of chipset semi-conductor manufacturing (mainly residing in Taiwan and Japan at this current moment), though computer manufacturing is an incredibly vital part of the U.S’ industry, such to the point that this could be a painful next few years,” Gavin Harden (12) said.
People tie the tariffs to the gas prices and how that will affect gas prices. Students also have different opinions about how the economy will be affected by these tariffs.
“Gas has gone down a lot, I think that the tariffs are good, yes they might raise prices now but when you look at other countries who have a tariff on the US their economy is boosting,” Weston Higgason (11) said.
The other countries that have tariffs on the US, seem to have a good economy and benefit from the tariffs they placed.
“China’s economy is usually pretty good (besides the crash they just had a couple days ago) but they have a 125% tariff on the USA and they are usually pretty good with their economy,” Higgason added.
The tariffs that were imposed on foreign countries have mixed reactions from students at Highlands and people all over the world. So far, the price changes have been mixed between going up and going down, and as far as people can see, they will continue to go up and down.
