alright well when it does i hope you change your mind and stop thinking negatively. if tariffs don't work, why did it scare the colombian president into submission?  for most essential goods (like food), why would tariffs impact the price of that so much? most things that you eat are made here in the us. for other things, it would not increase the price the same relative to the tariff (25% tariff != 25% increase). the reality is markets still need to sell things and people are going to change their buying habits if prices of certain things were to jump in price. the companies either are going to sell them in other markets instead, if possible. but the us is a big market, probably one of the largest for many countries. so those companies absolutely will cut their own margins to keep prices palpable. think about apple. you and i both know they have a big margin of profit. do you think if they faced a 20% tariff that they'd increase the price of iphones and macbooks by that? no way, they'd get crushed by competition and people are not going to spend $200-500 more for these devices. apple will eat that most of that cost because sales are sales. and tariffs = government income. things that can go to paying for necessary things and we could even repeal income tax in favor of that revenue instead and give people 10-30% more money back in their pockets each year.
United States