Donald Trump’s China tariffs cost American businesses and consumers US$6 billion in June, advocacy group says

The US Treasury took in US$6 billion in revenue from tariffs in June, new government data shows. But that cost has been passed on to American businesses and consumers, according to a group critical of the duties US President Donald Trump has imposed as part of the trade war with China.

A report released on Wednesday by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a coalition of businesses and trade organisations opposed to the tariffs, said its analysis showed a 74 per cent increase in June tariffs year-on-year. Some US$3.4 billion of that is attributable to new duties levied by Trump since he began the trade war last year.

The group’s report – compiled from US Treasury and Census Bureau data – is the first look at the impact of the steep escalation of tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent in May. It came days after Trump announced another round of tariffs on an additional US$300 billion in imports, to take effect on September 1.

“Americans are already paying record-high tariffs, and the biggest hit to consumers is still to come on September 1,” the group’s spokesman, Jonathan Gold, said in a statement on Wednesday.

After analysing government data, Tariffs Hurt the Heartland found that American businesses and consumers have paid more than US$27 billion in new tariffs from the beginning of the trade war in 2018 through June of this year. The overwhelming majority – nearly 75 per cent – of those duties have been on Chinese imports.

Data from the Treasury Department shows that as of June 30, it collected US$63 billion in tariffs over the preceding 12 months.