Additional tariffs on Chinese goods to cost average US household $621 a year: advocacy group

WASHINGTON - The average US household will have to pay $621 in new taxes on imports from China based on previously imposed tariffs and those scheduled to take effect later this year, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTU) said Thursday.

Citing recent data from the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Bryan Riley, director of NTU's Free Trade Initiative, said in an article that additional tariffs are expected to reduce US real gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.3 percent in 2020.

The CBO said the US administration's tariffs are costly for Americans in three ways: they reduce the purchasing power of US consumers and businesses; increase uncertainty, leading businesses to delay or forgo new investments, or to make expensive changes to their supply chains; and prompt retaliatory tariffs and reduce exports.

The CBO report actually "understates" the cost of tariffs, because since it was released new tariffs have been announced by the United States and China that will raise the cost for consumers and businesses "even higher," Riley said.

"When it comes to trade policy, the Trump administration is in a hole that it keeps digging deeper," he said. "A good first step would be to stop digging by imposing a moratorium on any new taxes, including tariffs, that weaken the US economy."

"Even better, the White House should remove its ineffective and self-destructive tariffs," he said.