Title: For Americans, Trump's tariffs on imports could be costly | Fox News
Headings: For Americans, Trump's tariffs on imports could be costly
For Americans, Trump's tariffs on imports could be costly
Content: All of the countries now running major trade surpluses have far more to lose by disrupting trade." Navarro and Ross disputed the Peterson report that predicted big potential losses for U.S. soybean farmers. "We are world's largest producer, and they are the world's largest consumer ," they wrote of China. " If China cuts off American farmers, Chinese people will go hungry." Tariffs are meant to give American-made products a price advantage by making their foreign competition more expensive. They have had a disreputable image since the United States' Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 disrupted trade during the Great Depression. Economist Barry Eichengreen of the University of California, Berkeley, has argued that tariffs aren't necessarily flawed policy. At times when inflation is too low — as it's been in the United States and Europe since the Great Recession began in 2007 — tariffs can raise prices and encourage consumers to spend to avoid paying more later. Such spending helps drive economic growth. Higher inflation can also make it easier for consumers and businesses to repay loans.