Re “Who will pay Trump’s tariffs? Look in the mirror,” Page A1, Aug. 8:
The Globe rightly points out that US businesses and consumers will bear the highest costs of Trump’s tariffs. It is time to start referring to the tariffs as the “Trump sales tax.” As pointed out in the article, the tariffs are collected at the border by US-based companies importing foreign goods. These costs are then passed on to the consumers as higher prices, while the government coffers enjoy a windfall. There is no way to describe this other than as a sales tax. So the Republicans who keep claiming they will pass “no new taxes” have in fact raised taxes but changed their name to tariffs. As long as these taxes are referred to as tariffs they will be misunderstood by most Americans. It is time for the media and our elected leaders to call these what they are, a new federal sales tax. Now, the Republicans are the party of higher taxes.
Irwin Nesoff
Hull