DENVER — As the world reacts to President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariff plan Thursday, Denver7 is talking with the experts about what to expect in the days and weeks — and perhaps even months and years — ahead.
The announcement Wednesday triggered a significant stock market decline Thursday morning. For more on what it could mean for US consumers, go here.
Who you’ll hear from in this article
- Scripps News Deputy Political Director Joe St. George joined Denver7 News at 6 a.m. Thursday to break down the tariff announcement and the dates he has circled on his calendar to gauge their impact.
- Denver7 evening anchor Shannon Ogden went to the University of Denver to sit down with Dr. Fritz Mayer, the Dean of DU’s Korbel School of International Studies, for more context on the potential short-term pain — and long-term gain — of the tariffs.
Who supports imposing tariffs on other countries?
The United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, or UAW, is celebrating the auto tariffs Thursday, St. George said. They've long criticized free trade in this country, and say it is a big reason why there's so many car plants in Mexico and Canada. So there's praise for the auto tariffs on that front.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is another group praising the moves from the president because they believe for too long, farmers, particularly cattlemen, have faced obstacles when it comes to global trade. They think this may be able to correct some imbalances here.
The White House highlighted several supporters of the tariff program in a Thursday morning release. Proponents included organizations in industries like textiles, home building, dairy, steel and more — as well as lawmakers and political pundits.
Among those quoted in the White House was Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans, who represents Colorado's 8th Congressional District.
“This admin puts America first from strengthening our economy & national security to prioritizing hard working Americans," Evans's statement read. "Farmers in #CO08 have been disadvantaged in foreign trade deals & will benefit from reciprocal tariffs that promote FAIR & free trade.”
- Hear Joe St. George break down the tariff impact in the video player below:
What should we be watching for in the coming days?
I know people waking up in Colorado having their coffee and eggs with us just want to know, when is this going to impact me? How is this going to impact me?
Joe offers three key dates to keep an eye on.
One date is today. Those auto tariffs went into effect, and economists say that cost will be passed on to all of us when we go to purchase new cars.
The White House does push back when you ask them if inflation is guaranteed here. They think that some of the cost is going to be eaten, if you will, by countries or by businesses. Somebody is going to be right here and somebody is going to be wrong.
Date two is Saturday. That's when those 10% tariffs on essentially all countries are going to take effect.
But next week, April 9, this is the one Joe's got circled in his calendar. This is when some mega tariffs and mega new taxes go into effect. Why mega? Look at China's tariffs. They're looking at close to 60% in new taxes. A new 46% tax rate takes effect against Vietnam. Think of the amount of furniture that gets built in Vietnam and then sold in Colorado stores, or clothing that gets stitched in Vietnam and then sold in Colorado malls. This potentially could have a major impact on what we pay when we go shopping.
The Trump administration believes this is a way of getting companies to build plants back in the United States. But as lawmakers here on Capitol Hill this morning have said, it takes a while for a plant to open. In the short term, it could be rocky. The Trump administration has acknowledged that we may be in for some short-term turbulence.
For now, we wait for retaliation. We hadn’t officially gotten that Thursday morning. There's chatter about other countries retaliating, putting new tariffs in place. A global trade war really requires tariffs on both sides. We'll see what reaction Europe has, what China has, what especially the Asian markets, have, to all of this.
Short-term pain for long-term gain?
Trump’s tariffs go against decades of trade policy in the U.S. In Dr. Mayer’s words, they’re old ideas that are more nuanced than some of the president’s rhetoric might suggest.
“This is truly Back to the Future,” he said. “These are very old ideas, and they're kind of intuitive [...] It seems to make sense that you can impose a tax on things from somewhere else, and we don't have to pay it. That's not true, but it's intuitive, and it's appealing to say we've lost all these jobs, and there's a simple way to get them back, which is to impose tariffs on imported goods, and that will force everyone to reinvest in America. But it's not that simple.”
That reinvestment in America is a primary goal of the tariff plan, which the president declared a national emergency to implement. Trump himself has promised the reshoring of manufacturing jobs, in particular as a result of the tariff program.
We asked Dr. Mayer if he sees that as a possibility. He said the answer is “a qualified ‘yes.’”
“It is likely to induce some people to invest in the United States. So that part is true,” he said. “The question is, is it worth the cost? And over what time period are we going to see any benefits from that?”
- Will tariffs lead to reinvestment in the US? Dr. Mayer explains:
A tariff is a tax, and Dr. Mayer said these new taxes will inevitably raise costs in the short term depending on a variety of factors that exist in international trade.
“That's a short-term disruption. But how long is the short term is a really interesting question,” he said.
"Businesses don't like uncertainty"
Dr. Mayer said the “Achilles Heel” of the tariff plan was uncertainty.
“We don't really know how [this will all end], and, so far, what's been consistent is a certain amount of inconsistency,” he said, noting that Trump backed off of some of the most extreme tariffs against Mexico and Canada Wednesday. “He's been up and down on various things. Then he surprised markets with the scale of the tariffs that he's imposing on some of our close allies – Japan, 10% across the board, the UK, one of our closest friends throughout history, really.”
“So this level of uncertainty is a huge issue for businesses. Businesses don't like uncertainty. Investors don't like uncertainty. If they're going to make a bet on investing in the United States — and this is one of the Achilles heels of this whole project — to make a long-term bet that may not pay off for 5 to 10 years, you really want to believe that the rules of the game aren't going to change on you, and so far, it's been really inconsistent.”
- Denver7 | Your Voice visited Castle Rock to hear that community's perspective on the tariff plan. Hear their voices in the video player below