U.S. consumers bearing more than half the cost of tariffs so far, Goldman Sachs says

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

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.