President Donald Trump began levying higher import taxes on goods from nearly 100 other nations on Thursday, just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats begins to create visible damage to the U.S. economy. These taxes, reaching a level not seen in the U.S. in almost 100 years, will have Americans paying an average of 18.3% more for imported products, the highest rate since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center.
Despite the immediate impact, the Trump White House is confident businesses will ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the U.S. economy as a manufacturing power.
