‘Around 400,000 jobs will be lost’: Trump’s possible tariffs could devastate U.S. employment rates

Trumpanomics are a bad idea.

The ITEP said it first: Trump’s new tax plan will hurt the wallets of every American citizen save for its richest 5%. Trump’s “mass deportation” plan, if implemented, could cause inflation to skyrocket and break the backbone of multiple American industries. Trump’s tariffs are set to follow similarly dubious trends, a problem that has been highlighted by one of the nations that those same tariffs are to be leveled against: Mexico.

Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard warned that Trump’s tariff plan is leading the United States down the path to a regional trade war, and American workers will be caught in the crossfire. “Around 400,000 jobs will be lost” he said of American car-makers that manufacture their product in Mexico. The tariffs could cause the price of U.S. pickup-trucks manufactured in Mexico to increase by $3,000, said Brand, adding that the total cost of the tariffs on U.S. workers would be “huge.” In Ebard’s point of view, Trump’s tariff policies are a nationwide “shot in the foot.”

Ebard isn’t the only one who thinks so. According to analysts at Barclay, Trump’s tariff plan could “wipe out effectively all profits” from America’s three largest car makers: Ford, GM, and Stellantis. According to Walmart CFO John David Rainey, Trump tariffs will likely cause the price of Walmart’s wares to rise significantly. Walmart won’t be the only chain affected. Lowe’s CEO Brandon Sink said that 40% of the company’s cost of good sold from outside the U.S., and that the tariffs “certainly would add product costs.” Shoe retail giant Steve Madden also warned of rising prices. There’s hardly a good that won’t become pricier. Mattresses, toasters, toys, apparel, furniture, all of these and more are likely to be affected by Trupanomics. “Make American Expensive”, should be Trump’s new slogan. According to economists, recent economic trends signify there’s no need to add an “Again.”

Despite the red flags, the Trump administration is jumping into bed with its tariff plan, and intends to take the relationship to the next level. Trump is now threatening BRICS nations—i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates—with tariffs should those nations attempt to rival the U.S. dollar with a new currency or back a different form of currency as the globe’s reserve medium of exchange.

According to a Truth Social post, Trump is threatening these nations with an economy-annihilating tariff rate of 100% if they attempt to replace the U.S. dollar with an alternative currency.

What Trump doesn’t understand is that the only economy he will annihilate is his own. “Like any tariffs, this would mean higher prices for consumers,” said Mark Weinstock, a global economics expert at Pace University said when asked about the potential repercussions of BRICS tariffs. Brazilian coffee, Chinese electronics, South American minerals, it’s all on the economic chopping block. Coupled with tariffs on Mexico and China, U.S. consumers would be in for a world of economic hurt.

According to economist Brad Fellows, Trump’s tariffs could backfire enormously, leading the nations of the world into a mass exodus from the greenback. In a statement on X, Setter wrote that Trump’s statements on BRICS currency “suggests a lack of confidence in the U.S. dollar” that other nations may interpret as a symbol of weakness, and attempt to exploit to their economic advantage.

If that happens, Trump may just have to eat his words and say goodbye to U.S. economic power itself. Which means that it won’t be just 400,000 Americans saying goodbye to their jobs, but perhaps hundreds of thousands more.