It was self-evident, they said, that tariffs of this scale would push up prices and input costs, simultaneously squeezing real income and profits. Combined with the uncertainty of Trump’s on-off tariff announcements, an adverse impact on inflation, employment and income was seemingly inevitable. There was an exemption for products that were in transit when tariffs were announced. Canada and Mexico also received exemptions from the tariffs Trump threatened them with and many of their exports qualify for zero tariffs under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump signed in his first term. High-frequency retail microdata measuring the short-run impact of tariffs on US consumer prices bears this out.

Source: The Irish Times February 20, 2026 07:30 UTC