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Norms Impact

90% of Trump’s tariffs are paid for by American consumers and companies, New York Fed says | Fortune

When the presidency sells tariffs as a foreign-paid windfall while Americans pay the bill, our consent is manufactured and economic power is exercised without honest democratic accountability.

Economy

Sources

https://fortune.com/2026/02/13/new-york-fed-economists-confirm-americans-footing-trump-tariff-bill/

Summary

A Federal Reserve Bank of New York report found U.S. firms and consumers paid nearly 90% of the tariffs imposed in 2025. The presidency is using tariff power while insisting the costs fall on foreign producers, even as Congress and the Supreme Court move to constrain that authority. The practical consequence is higher domestic prices and pressured business margins, with tariff costs projected to outstrip promised household tax benefits.

Reality Check

Misrepresenting who pays a federal tax while wielding emergency-based tariff authority normalizes governance by false premise and strips voters of informed consent over policies that raise their daily costs. This conduct is unlikely to be criminal on these facts alone, but it squarely violates core anti–abuse-of-power norms by using public office to sustain a policy justification contradicted by the government’s own economic evidence. The deeper danger is precedent: if tariff power expands under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act while the public is told the opposite of its domestic impact, our rights as consumers, workers, and taxpayers are subordinated to executive narrative control.

Detail

A Federal Reserve Bank of New York report released Thursday analyzed U.S. Census Bureau and Foreign Trade Statistics data through November 2025 and found that Americans paid for nearly 90% of U.S. tariffs in 2025. The report estimated tariff incidence on U.S. firms and consumers at 94% from January to August 2025, 92% from September to October, and 86% in November.

The authors—Mary Amiti, Chris Flanagan, Sebastian Heise, and David E. Weinstein—reported average tariff rates increased from 2.6% to 13% over 2025 and said exporter price reductions were modest, leaving domestic firms to absorb costs or pass them to consumers.

The findings come amid congressional and judicial scrutiny: the House passed a resolution, with three Republicans, to overturn tariffs imposed on Canada, and the administration is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Businesses cited tariff-linked price increases and profit impacts, and the Tax Foundation projected 2026 household tariff burdens exceeding anticipated tax-cut benefits.