Buying Less for More
The Trump administration has decided to devalue your dollars even more by placing additional tariffs on Chinese goods:
The US is imposing new tariffs on $200bn (£150bn) of Chinese goods as it escalates its trade war with Beijing.
These will apply to almost 6,000 items, marking the biggest round of US tariffs so far.
Handbags, rice and textiles will be included, but some items expected to be targeted such as smart watches and high chairs have been excluded.
The Chinese commerce ministry said it had no choice but to retaliate but is yet to detail what action it will take.
The US taxes will take effect from 24 September, starting at 10% and increasing to 25% from the start of next year unless the two countries agree a deal.
The upside of trade wars is that they don't start out as shooting wars. The downside of trade wars is that they're a war on consumers. Every tariff means that consumers are stuck paying more for less. A bag of rice that costs $5.00 can suddenly cost $6.25 for no reason other than where it was produced. A cell phone that costs $500 can suddenly cost $625. What makes tariffs a real gut punch though is that since they're usually calculated by the price of a good, they increase as inflation causes prices to increase. If that $500 cell pone begins to cost $600 due to inflation, the cost with the tariff tax included will be $750.
The only winner in a trade war is the government because it pockets the tariffs.