CNN Breaks Down the Estimated Cost of Trump’s Tariffs on the Average American Family

CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich joined anchor Wolf Blitzer on Thursday to discuss President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs going into effect, with different countries being hit at different rates.

“Yeah, well, Wolf, these are historic tariff levels not seen in nearly a century. We have not seen tariffs at these rates since the 1930s, and following that was the Great Depression, and all countries are being hit,” Yurkevich began ominously, adding:

The minimum is 10 percent, but then it’s ratcheted up to 50 percent for some countries. This is President Trump’s big bet. He believes that he’s going to shrink trade deficits with other countries and believes that he is going to move manufacturing to the United States. Here are some of the countries that are impacted. Look at that high rate for Brazil, Switzerland, 39 percent.

That’s actually higher than the initial tariff of 31 percent that was announced on Liberation Day. You have India, 25 percent. Trump has threatened to move that up to 50 percent. Vietnam, Cambodia, other East Asian countries at 20 percent, 19 percent. And the European Union, a major trading partner, Wolf, sitting at 15 percent. They actually negotiated that tariff level as Trump was trying to bring that even higher, but a significant historic day as nearly all countries now hit with historic tariff levels.

“Vanessa, how much is this going to cost average Americans?” followed up Blitzer.

“Yeah, well, this is going to hit a lot of products that we Americans love to buy. Computers, electronics coming in from countries like China, Vietnam, Malaysia being hit with 30, 20, 19% tariffs. Clothing and shoes coming in from China, Vietnam, India, gonna be hit with 30, 20%, 25% tariffs. Watches now on the list because of Americans’ love for Swiss watches,” Yurkevich explained, adding:

That’s gonna be tariffed at 39%. Alcohol coming in from the European Union countries like France and Italy, that’s wine and spirits gonna be tariffed at 15%. And toys being tariffed at 30 to 20% coming in from China and Vietnam. There are many, many estimates to suggest what this may cost American families.

The most recent estimate that we have is from the Yale Budget Lab just this month, projecting that because of all of these tariffs, if they stay in effect, it’s going to cost the average family $2,400 a year. Obviously, that is significant, as Americans we know are worried about these tariffs, worried about their finances, worried about inflation. That is a significant hit to the average American family, Wolf.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.

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