CNN’s Richard Quest: Tariffs Are ‘One Giant Experiment’

EXCERPT:

QUEST: “It is one giant experiment. That's the best way to describe it. Donald Trump, you're right when you say he's always wanted to do it, and now the experiment has quote, gone live. Billions of dollars will be going into the U.S. Treasury. But where's that money coming from? Well, at the moment, it's coming mainly from the exporters, the importers, the manufacturers, but we are starting to see it being passed on to the consumer. More and more companies are saying they can no longer just eat the tariff. You know, when the tariff was 10 percent, maybe, 15 percent, it becomes harder. Look at these numbers. If you are buying something from Switzerland or from Brazil, and you've got a tariff of 39 percent, 50 percent, 30 percent, you can't expect the producer, the importer, the exporter, to eat that tariff consistently. No, eventually, Dana, it is going to pass through to the consumer. I think the Commerce secretary is right. What I will say is, you know, where does the 500 pound gorilla sit? Wherever it wants to. And that's what the U.S. has basically done. It said, we're the largest market. You want to do it. You want to play here. This is the price.”