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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

Did tariffs imposed by the US in 2018 and 2019 act like a tax increase on Americans?

By Esther Honig
YES

Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in 2018 added $80 billion in new taxes for Americans, according to estimates by the Tax Foundation, an independent research institute. It calculates the impact in terms of both reduced output and employment—a fall in national income of 0.23% over time and 179,800 fewer jobs. The measures amounted to the 17th largest tax increase since the 1940s, it says.

The moves do not appear to have provided the intended boost to manufacturing in the U.S. "The [2018] tariffs have not boosted manufacturing employment or output, even as they increased producer prices," Federal Reserve Board researchers wrote in December 2019.

Retaliatory tariffs by China against U.S. farm products have added to the burden for Americans, which the government sought to offset with $23 billion in payments to affected U.S. farmers in 2018 and 2019.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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