5 Goods We Buy From China That May Be Affected By Trump's Tariffs

By now you've probably seen the word tariff thrown around with increasing frequency. While you might be wondering what exactly tariffs are, and more importantly, who pays for them, the answer could disappoint you. Tariffs (or taxes levied on imported products) inevitably end up being paid for by consumers via price increases on imported products. Since companies have to pay more money to bring the same goods into the country, often they end up passing on those increased costs to the consumer. This could leave consumers dealing with yet another spike in inflation.

This brings us to China, the largest importer into the U.S. and the current subject of president-elect Trump's ire. Trump has previously proposed a blanket 60% tariff on all Chinese imported goods, and as recently as late November he has publicly stated he wants to add an additional 10% tariff to that amount effective immediately, on his inauguration day — January 20, 2025. While Trump has stated that his motivation for these new tariffs is to effectively force China to stop sending Fentanyl into the country, a larger motivation is rooted in attempting to aid domestic U.S. manufacturers who often fail to adequately compete with China's cheaper manufacturing. However, since a fair amount of the equipment and materials required to make U.S. goods still comes from China, applying tariffs to Chinese goods can allow U.S. manufactured products to be more competitive but also has the consequence of making those goods more expensive for consumers.

The U.S. is the largest importer in the entire world, meaning the products coming into the U.S. are absolutely vital to the country's ability to function. According to data from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, China was the top supplier of those imported goods into the U.S. with $536.3 billion worth of goods in 2022. While the U.S. gets a wide range of goods from China, some items in particular are more significant than others. For starters, critical minerals or Rare Earth minerals are an important part of everything from electricity to batteries to mobile phone screens. Some of these minerals include cobalt, germanium, nickel, and graphite. Many are either exclusively sourced in China, or through Chinese owned mines and reserves located in other countries. This means that China has significant control of the global reserves of many of these critical minerals, which adds another layer of potential downside for the U.S. should it choose to enter an all-out trade war with China.

In addition to natural resources, China is also a major source for U.S. machinery including electronic products, industrial, and manufacturing equipment. From laser cutting to agriculture to printing to welding, many of the industrial tools and equipment required to keep domestic production work going in the U.S. is imported from China. This also includes things like motors, generators, and vehicle parts which can similarly affect the country's auto industry. Perhaps most significant to consumers, this includes computers and smartphones.

China also sends manufactured goods to the U.S. One of the biggest categories that the U.S. imports from China is toys. This includes everything from puzzles to balls to figurines. Similarly, games are another big import, including video game consoles, parts, and the actual games. It's also worth mentioning that plastic and plastic goods in general are a significant part of China's imports and oftentimes have a strong overlap with toys and games.

While Donald Trump's first round of tariff implementation and the beginning of his trade war (during his first term as President) had a significant impact on the amount of furniture the U.S. imported from China, the U.S. still imports a significant amount. According to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), the U.S. imported $9.53 billion worth of furniture in 2022, which was a little over 30% of the country's total furniture imports that year. While general furniture and furniture parts are the most significant part of what China imports, chair seats and seat parts as well as mattress supports and bedding are also parts of the furniture category that come from China. It's also worth keeping in mind that furniture shipping costs have increased in recent years, meaning that consumers won't just be paying more for furniture once tariffs are implemented, but they'll also pay significantly more to get those items shipped to them. All of this will combine to make already exploding credit card debt even worse.