Tariffs Are In Effect. Expect Everything To Become More Expensive.
President Donald Trump imposed steep duties on America's three largest trading partners on Tuesday. Imports from Mexico and Canada will be subject to a 25 percent tariff (10 percent for Canadian energy), while levies on Chinese products will jump from 10 percent to 20 percent. Combined, these tariffs will affect roughly $1.5 trillion in annual imports.
The Trump administration also plans a global 25 percent tariff on aluminum on March 12, plus a tariff of an unspecified rate on foreign cars and agricultural products in April, according to The New York Times.
The three nations targeted today have all retaliated in kind. Mexico announced a 25 percent tariff on American goods, and Canada has imposed levies on $107 billion worth of U.S. goods. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said the province will also impose a 25 percent tax on electricity exports to the U.S., which will primarily impact New England, New York, and Minnesota. Ontario will halt all energy exports—which powers over 1 million American homes—if Trump implements more tariffs in April, The Wall Street Journal reports. China, meanwhile, will introduce levies of 10 to 15 percent on American agricultural products, including soybeans, pork, poultry, cotton, and beef. Nearly 50 percent of American soybean and 30 percent of cotton exports go to China.
The U.S. stock market tumbled on Tuesday in response to the flurry of tariffs, erasing $3.6 trillion in gains since Election Day.
These trade barriers will make everything more expensive, especially energy prices. Despite being the global leader in oil and gas production, the U.S. relies heavily on Canada's oil because America's refineries are specifically built to process Canadian crude. "Depending on the tariff rate and how long they're in place, gas prices could rise anywhere from 10–30 cents per gallon, with the Midwest and the Rocky Mountain Region getting hit the hardest," Nick Loris, executive vice president of policy at C3 Solutions, a free market energy think tank, told Reason in February.
Electricity prices, too, are expected to climb, particularly in New England and New York. New England's grid operator warns the tariffs could add $66 million to $165 million to its customers' bills annually.
With the flood of data centers and AI coming onto the grid and baseload sources retiring, operators across the country are warning of shortages, and thus price hikes, in the near future unless more grid capacity is built.
With domestic supply chains capable of only meeting 20 percent of America's transformer demand, the U.S. relies on trade, especially with China and Mexico, to provide transmission and distribution gear to build this capacity. (The two nations—and Canada—are also major suppliers of circuit breakers and switch gear.)
Since 2020, the cost of power and distribution transformers has risen by 106 percent and 74 percent, respectively. A tax on these products and the materials needed to build them domestically will delay the build-out and increase the cost of grid infrastructure, which will likely be passed on to consumers through higher utility bills.
In addition to causing weaker economic growth in China, Canada, and Mexico, Trump's tariffs "could result in a 0.9 percentage point cut to US real GDP growth after four quarters, as well as a potential 0.6 percentage point rise in US inflation over four quarters," warns the Conference Board, a business research organization. Trade wars hurt all parties involved.
The post Tariffs Are In Effect. Expect Everything To Become More Expensive. appeared first on Reason.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Confirms US Launched Strikes Against Iran In Major Escalation Of Middle Eastern War
Donald Trump has confirmed that the US struck Iran overnight and 'obliterated' its key nuclear facilities, marking a major escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict. Just days ago the US president gave himself two weeks to make a decision over joining the war in the Middle East, but clearly chose to strike long before that self-imposed deadline passed. The shocking move comes after UK prime minister Keir Starmer urged Trump not to strike Iran, noting that the region needs de-escalation. He warned that Iran's future held 'either peace or tragedy' and that there were many other targets he could hit unless Tehran agrees to end the war. Tensions soared in the Middle East earlier this month when Israel unexpectedly attacked Iran over fears it was developing nuclear weapons – a claim Iran has denied, insisting that it is only for peaceful purposes. The two countries then continued to exchange fire over the course of a week. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on his 'bold decision' of striking Iran, which he claimed would alter the course of history. According to CBS News, the States contacted Iran on Saturday to confirm the attacks had come to the US and that it is not looking for regime change. During a three-minute speech confirming the attacks, Trump said: 'Massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. 'Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. 'Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. 'Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. 'Iran's key nuclear facilities and been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. 'If they do not, future attacks will be far greater – and a lot easier.' — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2025 As Trump Weighs Up Joining Israel's War Against Iran, Here's A Reminder How We Got Here Keir Starmer Urges Donald Trump Not To Bomb Iran Obama Says US Moving 'Dangerously Close' To Autocracy Under Trump
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US strikes Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran warns of ‘everlasting consequences'
The United States has attacked three sites in Iran, inserting itself into Israel's war aimed at destroying the country's nuclear programme in a risky gambit to weaken a long-time foe which has prompted fears of a wider regional conflict. US President Donald Trump asserted that Iran's key nuclear sites had been 'completely and fully obliterated', in an address to the nation from the White House. There was no independent damage assessment. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran confirmed attacks took place on its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites, but it insisted its nuclear programme will not be stopped. Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog said there are no immediate signs of radioactive contamination at the three locations following the strikes. It is not clear whether the US will continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a nine-day war with Iran. Mr Trump acted without congressional authorisation, and he warned there will be additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against US forces. 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,' he said. Iran's top diplomat, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, warned in a post on X that the US attacks 'will have everlasting consequences' and that Tehran 'reserves all options' to retaliate. Hours later, Iranian missiles struck areas in northern and central Israel, according to an Israeli rescue service. Initial reports suggested at least 16 people suffered minor injuries and several buildings were damaged. Following the Iranian barrage, Israel's military said it had 'swiftly neutralised' the Iranian missile launchers that had fired, and that it had begun a series of strikes towards military targets in western Iran. Iran has maintained its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Mr Trump and Israeli leaders have argued Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon, making it an imminent threat. The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel that significantly degraded Iran's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, and damaged its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said American B-2 stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb that only they have been configured to carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground. Mr Trump appears to have made the calculation – at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republicans – that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear programme, perhaps permanently. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2025 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,' Mr Trump said in a post on social media. 'All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.' Mr Trump later added: 'This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!' Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the US attacks. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation but an update is expected on Sunday morning. But one US official said the attack used bunker-buster bombs on Iran's Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant that is built deep into a mountain. The weapons are designed to penetrate the ground before exploding. In addition, US submarines launched about 30 Tomahawk missiles, according to another US official. The decision to attack was a risky one for Mr Trump, who won the White House partially on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. But he has vowed he will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and he had initially hoped the threat of force would bring the country's leaders to give up its nuclear programme peacefully.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung AG (HMSE:DFV) insiders have significant skin in the game with 64% ownership
DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung's significant insider ownership suggests inherent interests in company's expansion The top 4 shareholders own 64% of the company Institutions own 16% of DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. Every investor in DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung AG (HMSE:DFV) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 64% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. So, insiders of DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung have a lot at stake and every decision they make on the company's future is important to them from a financial point of view. In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung. View our latest analysis for DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung. The company's CEO Stefan Knoll is the largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. With 16% and 14% of the shares outstanding respectively, Luca Pesarini and Noah Vogel are the second and third largest shareholders. To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making. While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held. The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own the majority of DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung AG. This means they can collectively make decisions for the company. That means they own €58m worth of shares in the €90m company. That's quite meaningful. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently. The general public-- including retail investors -- own 11% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 9.5%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research. I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph. Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
