By Ashlee Banks
AFRO Staff Writer
abanks@afro.com
The current American president has unveiled his latest tariffs, and they could have significant implications for marginalized communities.
Tariffs are taxes placed on imported goods. While they are technically paid by companies that import products from abroad, the added costs are often passed on to consumers. For low-income and marginalized communities, who already spend a higher proportion of their income on necessities, these increases could have outsized effects.
The sweeping new tariffs, on top of previous levies, are expected to increase prices for everyday items. The trade wars have already roiled financial markets and plunged businesses into uncertainty — all while economists warn of potentially weakened economic growth and heightened inequality.
Experts warn that these tariffs could escalate inequities. Low-income families in particular will feel the costs of key necessities, like food and energy, rise with fewer savings to draw on — significantly straining budgets.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, households in the lowest income quintile spend approximately 82 percent of their income on necessities, compared to about 65 percent for households in the highest quintile. This means price hikes on groceries, gas and utilities will weigh more heavily on families with limited disposable income.
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.-8) emphasized this issue.
“The tariffs are making life less affordable for the average American,” Jeffries said in a statement.
“Not a single bill— not a single executive order— not a single administrative action has been done by Donald Trump, House Republicans or Senate Republicans to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America,” he added. “In fact, Republicans are crashing the American economy in real time and driving us to a recession.”
The United States imports a significant share of the goods it consumes. From food and clothing to electronics and medical supplies, global supply chains are deeply embedded in everyday life. When tariffs are applied to imports, they can quickly raise costs on a wide range of consumer goods.
A 2019 study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimated that U.S. households paid an average of $831 more per year due to tariffs introduced between 2018 and 2019.
Low-income and marginalized communities, including Black, Latino, Indigenous, and immigrant populations, are statistically more likely to have limited financial buffers.
According to the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median net worth was $285,000 for White households, but only $61,600 for Hispanic households and $44,900 for Black households.
Democratic Whip Katherine Clarke (D-Mass.-5) expressed concerns about the lack of structure in the current trade policy rollout.
“What we have here is tariffs by chaos. We don’t even understand where the White House came up with the numbers for these tariff rates,” said the Massachusetts lawmaker. “It is not part of a strategy that is laid out. So, what we have is chaos, retribution, uncertainty.”
She also warned about the potential for international retaliation.
“We are going to see, as we’ve already seen from China, retaliatory tariffs. And they go after our allies as well as countries like China, where we want to use good tariff policy to make sure that they are not flooding us with cheap goods and taking American jobs,” Clarke said in a statement.
Retaliatory tariffs by other countries could further disrupt supply chains, especially in agriculture and manufacturing, which are major employers in rural and lower-income regions. If export demand drops, job losses could follow.
Trump has argued that tariffs will help bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., but the short-term effects could include layoffs or reduced hours, especially in sectors that rely heavily on imported components.
A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that between 2018 and 2019, tariffs slowed growth in U.S. manufacturing jobs by 1.4 percentage points.
Job losses or wage stagnation would disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Workers of color and immigrants are overrepresented in lower-wage sectors such as logistics, service industries, and retail — many of which are highly sensitive to supply disruptions.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas-30) addressed the human cost of these policies.
“It’s time for Congress, in a bipartisan way, to come together and reign in the Mad King,” Crockett said in a statement. “These tariffs haven’t even hit for real and the world is off the rails… I care too deeply for the harm that is inflicted, unnecessarily upon people, even on those that hate my very existence.”
While tariffs are intended to strengthen domestic industries and generate federal revenue, they also increase the cost of many goods — from groceries to consumer electronics. Because low-income and marginalized households spend a greater share of their income on such goods and have fewer financial resources to fall back on, they are more likely to experience economic strain.
As trade policies continue to evolve, the economic consequences for the most vulnerable populations remain an essential part of the broader conversation.