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Today president Trump announced major across the board tariffs on all imports to the US, with higher tariffs for targeted countries he calls “bad actors.” Some of the tariffs are as high as 49%.
Republican economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, speaking on CNN, called these tariffs “my worst nightmare” and “much higher than expected.” He said “the risks are enormous” on their own; if Mexico and other countries retaliate, it’s a “self inflicted wound” and notes that trade wars have driven “prolonged downturns in the past.”
The language from Democrats is equally dire. In fact bipartisan anxiety is so high that four Senate Republicans—including former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell—joined Democrats to pass a resolution that would block Trump from declaring a national economic emergency, which he used to enact some of his tariffs. (That’s not going to pass the GOP House.)
The tariffs will have far reaching implications for business and home budgets. I broke down some specifics in today’s newsletter. In this Substack, i’m sharing a fantastic conversation with Toni Farmer about the impact of tariffs on our food supply.
Toni is an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She teaches classes on sustainable agriculture. She also posts explainers at @tonifarmersgarden on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. Finally, she hosts The Goal is to Become a Gardner where she gives gardening advice, available here.
She explains why all foods are likely to see a price spike as a result of these tariffs, how soon those might hit, how often the foods we eat cross borders. She also breaks down the impact of all this on farms and farmers and she does it using her blackboard. (Love it.)
We recorded this a few hours before Trump announced the details of his tariffs; nothing he said changes the accuracy of her comments.
Let us know your thoughts!
On Friday I’ll be interviewing a constitutional law professor about the Trump administration’s attacks on the judiciary. Paid subscribers please share your questions for him in comments.
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