DETROIT – Tariffs have been a major focus for President Donald Trump’s administration at the start of this term, and that has left many people wondering how or if those changes will affect their lives.
To get a better understanding of what our viewers want to know, we asked you for your tariff questions on Facebook.
Within hours, there were more than 1,400 comments on the post. We went through and pulled out the questions that we saw most frequently.
Here are 27 of those questions, as well as the answers from Local 4 Consumer Investigator Hank Winchester and Dewey Steffen, the CEO of Great Lakes Wealth.
You can also watch the entire Q&A in the video above.
How will it affect the prices of groceries: fruits, vegetables, etc.?
Well, prices will go up. They’ve already started to go up, and that will continue.
A lot of the fruits and vegetables on our produce is not from America. It’s shipped in. So again, prices are going to go up across the board.
Hank: And that will really determine whether your individual grocery store chain kind of eats those costs or passes on to the consumer, right?
The theme right now is, “Is it going to be passed through, or will, you know, that company eat it and not make it as difficult for the consumer?”
But at this point, just plan on they’re going to pass it along to the consumer.
How will dollar stores be affected?
Well, they’re going to be affected like the others, where the prices are going to go up. But they might even be more affected, because a lot of their goods come from those other countries -- specifically China.
They will have a higher tariff, perhaps, than some of the other countries. So you might even see a little bit more sticker shock at the place that you thought would be the better deal.
Hank: So maybe like the $1.50 store?
Well it might be the $2 store.
What’s wrong with reciprocal tariffs?
Hank: We hear so much negativity about a reciprocal tariff, but what would you say is, if there is a problem with it, what is the problem with it?
So a lot of it depends on the amount of the reciprocal tariff. And so what happens is if you have a small tariff -- let’s call it 10%, and that’s manageable -- and both sides can worry about that.
But once you reciprocate or you push back and 10 is 10. OK? I’m going to go 20? I’m gonna go 20. I’m gonna go 30? I’m gonna go 30.
So what happened with the reciprocal tariffs? Or is it just who keeps butting heads at higher prices? And so what has to happen, ultimately: You have to reciprocate on down and negotiate. All right, we’re both at 30% -- we’re not doing anybody any good.
Let’s take it back down to 0%.
Hank: Because if you keep going higher, ultimately, costs are going to come back to a consumer at some point, right?
Absolutely.
Is there a list of products that are manufactured in the U.S.? If I’m going to spend money, that’s where I want to do it.
Hank: What’s your advice for people who are trying to find those items that are made in the U.S.? Knowing, at least with the car industry, that there are very few vehicles that are manufactured, made, and produced 100% in the U.S. I think Tesla and Rivian, are maybe the only brands.
Yeah there’s a lot of those components. There’s little pieces here and there that come from all over the world, and almost any piece of equipment, really. So I think you have to kind of dumb it down and just go search.
You can certainly search the internet and ask, “Where is this manufactured? Where are the parts?” You have to do your research if it’s really something you’re concerned about. And then again, that old label that’s on the back of the shirts that says “made in the USA.”
If American labor is more expensive now than when jobs started going overseas, why would tariffs cause these jobs to come back now?
Well, if you get to a point of isolationism, which ultimately could happen, then again, it’s us against other countries. So everything is here.
We have our walls up. We can’t manufacture things in Mexico or China or anywhere else, so they’re just, again, going to be done here. That’ll increase our employment.
But yes, the reason that these items were manufactured offshore until recently, is because of cheaper labor and cheaper costs. So you’ll have higher costs, but you’ll have, again, probably higher wages.
It’s just everything goes higher. And you have to see what happens.
How will the tariffs affect my 401k?
If the stock market decides that these tariffs are not a good thing, which we’ve seen the last few days -- and the stock markets around the world have collapsed, if you want to call it that -- so that’ll reduce your 401k.
That doesn’t help your 401k. However, if you’re adding to your 401k out of every paycheck, then you’re going to be dollar cost averaging. And at some point, this too shall pass.
Whether it’s in two weeks, two months, or two years, you will see that your 401k will elevate. So add to it, if you can.
Hank: Because it’s not necessarily the market saying that they’re anti-tariff. It’s the market saying they don’t like uncertainty about how the tariffs are going to shake out, right?
The stock market hates uncertainty. We’ve said that time and time again, and we thought through Liberation Day last week, we had it figured out. He had said, “I’m going to have some tariffs against China, maybe against Canada, maybe against Mexico.” But then all of a sudden he said, “10% across the board. Let’s get started.”
So Wall Street’s, like, “Whoa. We didn’t plan for this. We didn’t model for this.” And now, all of a sudden, there’s retaliatory tariffs. So now it’s again completely uncertain, and until it gets figured out, you need to be paying attention.
Should I be worried about my retirement portfolio?
So the first thing is: Always talk to a professional. Find some professional guidance, wherever that might be, and certainly, you can give us a call.
But talk to someone who can help you. Professional advice is very important. Then, No. 2, you need to recognize your specific situation. Depending on how you are allocated, you might need to do some selling, even though the markets are down.
So you definitely can’t panic. You need to be prepared, and you also just need to, again, take it day by day, recognize the situation.
But there will be some days of things going back up. And so when that happens, then execute any plan you have. So we talked about this back in January, that when things are high, you need to rebalance. And when things are low, you also need to rebalance.
How long is it going to take to set up manufacturing for appliances, let alone manufacturing for smartphones and smart watches?
Hank: If the idea is to bring back all these jobs to the U.S. and to have these products made here, won’t it take a while to set up that sort of structure?
Sure, absolutely. Every situation will be different with the manufacturing facilities, etc.
But I don’t think the end game is to bring everything back to America. I think the end game is to have everything fairly priced and fairly manufactured, and whatever we’re selling them to other countries for, then there’s a tariff put on us and a tax, and we’re not doing that on the way in.
So I don’t think it’s about bringing everything back to America. I think it’s about bringing everything back to a level playing field.
Will I still be able to shop at Temu?
Hank: We got a lot of questions about online shopping, and specifically about Temu. The thought is that they are not going to be inexpensive moving forward, because of the tariffs and because of the loophole -- the previous loophole that was kind of jumped over.
Hank: The answer is yes. It’s not like it’s a ban of the website. But what’s going to happen if you’re buying on some of those discounts, even maybe Amazon, because a lot of products are from overseas.
That’s what I was going to actually reference, was Amazon. So it really doesn’t matter if it’s Temu or Amazon or buying on wherever-else.com. Prices across the board -- you should expect them to go up, at least in the short term.
So maybe go ahead and do that shopping now rather than next week.
When politicians state that tariffs and trades are not equal, is that based on the size of the countries compared to the U.S. and/or what we export to them?
That’s a tricky question.
A lot of the calculations that are going on right now are actually subject to your own interpretation. So whatever the White House says vs. what the other countries say, again -- way beyond my pay grade to talk about the details of what calculations are being made.
Is it cheaper for us to pay the tariff than the cost of what it will take to grow or produce in the United States?
Again, that determines a lot going forward: 10% tax versus 45% or 55% or 60% tax tariffs.
So again: way, way too early to figure that out.
How will American-made products save us money in the long run?
Well, that also becomes complicated. So, again, it comes down to the U.S. economy. If you have more inputs, then you have more production. If you have more production, you need more labor. If you have more labor, then you have more people having jobs. Then they go and they spend their paychecks.
So it all becomes part of the cycle. But the reason that, again, things were then offshored the last 30, 40, 50 years, is because of the price of the input. The labor.
I don’t know that we want to become an isolationist country. I think the idea is just to make it fair trade, not an unbalanced trade.
Hank: I was thinking jobs. If you bring jobs and people have money, then they’re spending money, and then they’re OK.
Can President Trump’s tariffs work in the long run and benefit the U.S.?
Hank: That’s kind of the million-dollar question, right?
Well, again, it depends on the size of the tariff and what country and what’s happening. So again, that’s a lot to be determined, and that’ll be interesting to see what happens.
What’s the ultimate goal of these tariffs?
Hank: Do you think that financial experts share the same goal as the president, or do you think that there’s two different goals here?
Hank: The President has said a few different things. Originally, it was the tariffs had to be put in place because these countries have a problem with drugs, and he needs to enforce the border -- the Canadian border, the Mexican border. Then it was not so much about drugs, it was more about financial responsibility, and we need to be treated fairly. What is the goal?
So again, $64,000 question, and this is why Wall Street is uncertain right now, because we don’t understand the goal.
It was said one way a week ago, and then on Liberation Day that things have changed. So I think there’s multiple goals, and we will work through, as investment professionals, what we’re trying to get to, and then we’ll have to go from there.
What’s wrong with fair trade, and why do so many have an issue with leveling the playing field?
I’m not sure that people have an issue with leveling the playing field, per se. I think it’s just a shock to the system.
If you level the playing field -- according to whom, you know? Is it 10% benefit here, 35% benefit there?
I think a lot of it comes down to what is the level playing field, and how are we really going to get there?
Hank: I think some of that also, my gut helps me. It’s political, too. I mean, there are people who, no matter what President Trump is going to roll out are just not going to be supportive of the idea. And then there are people who are supportive of whatever idea he puts out there, no matter what it is. I think there’s a little bit of that, too.
Why isn’t the U.S. government using the tariff money the same way the Canadian government does, supporting the workers who are impacted as opposed to just plugging it into the federal budget?
I would talk to your congressman on that and find out, because I don’t even really know what the U.S. Treasury, general fund, is using for the tariff money.
Hank: But he has said previously that driving down the deficit was one of the goals for some of this, at least.
If I recall, it was absolutely to pay down our debt, right? But it was also -- he threw a carrot out there about maybe a stimulus check back to every American, as well.
So I can’t speak to what the latest policy moves are.
Hank: It’s probably going to be changing by the time this gets to people, too. Because, I mean, things with these negotiations, change is inevitable, right?
If tariffs are so bad, why do 170 countries impose them on the U.S.?
Again, it’s your point of view and everything about being equal. And, you know, go from there.
What does it look like if this tariff effort succeeds?
Hank: If this goes according to his plan, to Trump’s plan, he has said, this is the golden era of America. Stocks are going to be like we’ve never seen them before. We’re all going to be dancing on gold streets.
Hank: Do you see a scenario where this all comes together and just the market sees it and just goes through the roof? Is that how this plays out?
Yeah, I mean, you can’t just say if his plan comes to fruition -- it’s really a lot of the different details. But certainly, the concept of free trade and equal trade, and recognizing the revenues that come from different sources is certainly something that Wall Street would be behind.
But again, it really gets into some details. But in general, if we know what’s happening as Wall Street investors, we’re able to act, but when we really don’t understand what’s going on, and again, you don’t, because he could, literally, within an hour from now, change his policy.
He could enforce stricter tariffs. He could walk some tariffs back. He could talk about how some countries have come and negotiated and they’ve lowered the tariffs again. There’s just so much uncertainty. And it goes back to Wall Street hates uncertainty.
Hank: And when I say his plan, and if it works in the tariffs, what I’m trying to get at is that if this all works out, and they are able to negotiate deals where everybody seems happy. Now, you know in a negotiation -- nobody’s always 100% happy, but if it looks like we have an agreement with this country. Then the market responds to that favorably.
Yes, because we have a huge national debt. So all of this really goes back to the debt. We’re printing money.
You can do all the calculations. We don’t have enough money in the Social Security system for these retirees. We talk about everyone’s like, “Don’t worry about it. Next Generation, next generation.” But really it comes down to being fiscally responsible and managing our national debt. And I think that’s a lot of what this comes from.
Will tariff money pay down the deficit?
Hank: The idea is, apparently, some of that money would go to that.
I think that’s apparently, the majority of it is supposed to go that. But yes, that’s definitely one of the things they’re talking about, with tariff money.
Will tariff money give tax breaks to wealthy Republican donors?
I don’t know. Yeah, I have no idea.
Hank: That’s too hard to tell you. The idea is there were a lot of comments since he made his announcement that they asked him on Air Force One yesterday, “Did you intentionally cause the market to crash?” The idea being because now people who have money can go in and scoop up everything when it’s low. And he said, “Of course not. That’s not what my agenda is.”
So I heard something different. My urban legend, my whispers in the streets were that this was manufactured because we have some huge debt that’s maturing the next few months, and we have to recycle that debt at current interest rates, right?
And so the conspiracy theory is that if you have a shock to the system and the Fed or the forces at work bring interest rates down, then these trillions of dollars that have to come due in a few months -- now you can restructure them at lower interest rates, and so our debt payments would be lower, putting more money into the system, and then we go up from there.
Again, that’s a lot of moving parts. That’s some smart people thinking about those things.
Hank: That’s a lot of just -- chatter.
But either way, again, let’s get it solved. Let’s get some certainty. Let’s figure out what it is. I’m not sure that a 35% tariff of a retaliatory level across all the countries in the world would be the answer, but let’s just get it settled and we can move forward.
Why weren’t we previously using tariffs like so many other countries?
Hank: We have been in years, in different administrations, in different ways, right?
Sure, you can go all the way back to the 1930s with with the Smoot–Hawley tariffs that everyone’s talking about today. And they’re not necessarily good things.
How can we manufacture products when we don’t have the plants or the qualified workers in the U.S.?
I would say we probably have the qualified workers. We may not have the plants.
But again, I think it’s like the cost of capital. It’s the cost of the labor, it’s the inputs. And so all of these manufacturing went out of our borders because it was cheaper labor. And so all of a sudden, with the cost of goods going there vs. coming here, that’s just where this has come to a head.
Who is going to train workers to manufacture products in the U.S. satisfactorily?
Hank: That kind of depends on the individual company.
If parts go up and cost more to replace, will car insurance prices rise to compensate?
Sure, absolutely. So that’s kind of an easier one. You’ll see that, and you’re already going to see it now. But the estimate, I think, for this year, is that you’ll see a 19% increase in your insurance premium.
Hank: Then could we expect home insurance to go up, too, because the cost of lumber and steel and all of that’s going to go up?
Absolutely.
Prices will go up, but will our salaries also go up?
They should, that’s the idea. Ultimately, if you have these tariffs that come to some fruition and some stability, that the wages of our labor force should go up. And so ultimately, that’s not a bad thing, as long as the productivity is there and the cost is there and it gets recycled through the community, through the country.
When do you expect some stability in the market?
I think it’s going to be a while again. You need to have some more data points and some things figured out. So you could plan for the worst, and then you’re ready for the best. And so maybe plan on six months of stock market volatility, interest rate volatility, and prepare accordingly.
We usually say you have a 3-6 month emergency fund for your household, maybe take it out 9 months to a year. Now, again, you can still get money markets paying over 4% high yield savings accounts.
So again, you don’t have to speculate with everything. You shouldn’t put your safe money into crypto or into the stock market or gambling on whatever game’s on this weekend. You should have your safe money safe. Your speculative long term money -- nothing changes in the long term.
This is a great buying opportunity. It might be a better one tomorrow or next week, we shall see. But dollar cost average, which means nibble and just buy a little bit at a time. But also prepare for the worst, and then you’re ready for the best.
Is there a timeline for all of this?
Hank: Is there a, “We will negotiate and you have an opportunity to cut a deal with us on this tariff during X amount of time? Or could this just drag on and on and on and on?”
Yeah, it drags on and on and on. There were some rumors this weekend that some countries reached out and said, “Hey, I’m happy to come to the table. Let’s talk.” “Nope, I want to talk right now.”
I’m not saying that that’s what happened. I have no idea. But just because you say something and someone else says, “OK, I agree to those terms.” Then, if you go through the contract and negotiate at the table. So again, it’s going to go for a little while, but stay tuned.
