U.S. Import Taxes Hit Levels Not Seen In Nearly 100 Years

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs took effect, the economic fallout from months of threats was beginning to surface in visible damage to the economy, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Americans are expected to pay an average of 18.3% more for imported products.

The import taxes will reach levels not seen in the U.S. in almost 100 years, with Americans expected to pay an average of 18.3% more for imported products.

That’s the highest rate since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center. Companies are dealing with the tariffs in different ways.

Many automakers appear to be absorbing the costs for now, but most economists say the expense will ultimately be borne by U.S. consumers and businesses. More than 60 countries and the European Union now face tariff rates of 10% or higher.

Among the countries with higher rates is India.

Recently, Trump signed an executive order placing an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined U.S. tariff on its ally to 50%, set to take effect later this month.

Trump has directly tied Brazil’s 50% tariff on many imported goods to the trial of his embattled ally, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest.

The White House has also set the tariff rate on U.S. imports from Canada at 35%, saying Canada had failed to “do more to arrest, seize, detain or otherwise intercept … traffickers, criminals at large, and illicit drugs.”

Fentanyl from Canada accounts for less than 1% of the supply for American addicts.