Six months into President Donald Trump’s unprecedented gambit to impose sizable tariffs on imports, U.S. consumers are already shouldering as much as 55% of their costs, according to a new report from Goldman Sachs analysts.
And with new tariffs most likely on the way, the cost burden could rise even higher, they said.
The findings, released Sunday, suggest U.S. consumers will continue to struggle with high prices — which Trump had promised to address in the run-up to his re-election. While inflation rates have come down from the post-Covid peak, they have remained stuck above levels economists consider healthy, causing consumers and businesses alike to continue to report feeling burdened by price increases.
Over the past six months, Trump has imposed tariffs on copper, steel, aluminum and some automobiles and auto parts. He has also levied country-specific tariff rates of as much as 28% on China and 16% on much of the rest of the world, according to the Yale Budget Lab.
Partly as a result, consumer prices tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics have increased every month since April, when Trump made his “Liberation Day” speech announcing the new duties. As of August, the BLS’ benchmark Consumer Price Index stood at 2.93%. September data has been delayed because of the government shutdown, now in its 13th day, and it is scheduled to be released later this month.
A separate inflation measure preferred by the Federal Reserve has likewise continued to climb, rising to 2.7% for August — above the central bank’s 2% target.
In August, Trump assailed an initial Goldman Sachs estimate that said consumers could bear as much as 67% of the cost of tariffs.
In a statement, White House spokesman Kush Desai said: “The President and Administration’s position has always been clear: While Americans may face a transition period from tariffs upending a broken status quo that has put America Last, the cost of tariffs will ultimately be borne by foreign exporters. Companies are already shifting and diversifying their supply chains in response to tariffs, including by onshoring production to the United States. Americans can rest assured that the Administration will continue to deliver economic relief from Joe Biden’s inflation crisis while laying the groundwork for a long-term restoration of American Greatness.”
