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don beyer
Analysis Finds Trump Tariffs Will Cost Average US Family $1,600 or More Per Year
"The trade war Trump is igniting will weaken our economy and cause chaos in our marketplace as Americans pay the cost in the form of higher prices on everyday items," said Rep. Don Beyer.
Mar 04, 2025
As U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariffs took effect on Tuesday, Congressman Don Beyer released a Joint Economic Committee report showing that the policies could cost the average working-class family in the United States at least $1,600 annually.
"The tariffs Trump just imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China will raise costs by up to $2,000 per year for an average American family," Beyer (D-Va.) said in a statement. "The trade war Trump is igniting will weaken our economy and cause chaos in our marketplace as Americans pay the cost in the form of higher prices on everyday items."
Dean Baker, co-founder and senior economist of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, warns that Trump's tariffs could cost families even more than the estimates from Beyer's report, which cites figures from the Budget Lab at Yale University.
"While our report does not touch on this, these tariffs will also lead to retaliation that badly harms American producers," Beyer said. "And they will fail to achieve any of the pretextual objectives Trump has stated for imposing them. Less than two months into his term, Trump is running the economy into the ground and raising a real and growing risk of a recession."
Ignoring experts' warnings about impacts on consumers and the economy, Trump on Tuesday doubled his previous tariff for Chinese imports to 20% and—after a monthlong delay—hit Canadian and Mexican imports with 25% tariffs. As The Associated Pressreported, the moves sparked "swift retaliation" from "America's three biggest trading partners."
Leaders from those countries had warned of their responses if Trump followed through on his threats. There was also evidence of what would happen from the tariffs that the president imposed on China during his first term. At the time, Beyer's report notes, "U.S. importers and consumers paid almost entirely for Trump's tariffs through higher prices."
Trump has recently claimed that his plan will force production in the United States, but the report points out that the new "tariffs also impact the price of domestically produced goods by causing U.S. producers to raise prices if their supply chain relies on imported raw materials subject to the tariffs."
Using figures released Monday by the Budget Lab, Beyer's report warns that this time:
- Electronics, like computers, phones, and televisions, will see overall prices rise by nearly 11%;
- Clothing prices are expected to also rise by 7.5%;
- The price of cars, car parts, and other motor vehicles are expected to increase by over 6%;
- Oil will also rise by 1.7% and petroleum and coal products will rise by 1.6%, making it more expensive for families to fill up their gas tanks and heat their homes;
- And at a time when a trip to the grocery store is already squeezing household budgets, grocery prices will jump under these tariffs, with fresh produce prices rising by nearly 3%, rice prices increasing by 4.4%, and food prices overall rising by nearly 2%.
"In addition to harming the national economy, Trump's tariff policies will significantly impact state and local economies," the report says. "In fact, small counties in the South and Midwest tend to have economies that are most reliant on international trade. Those states that are heavily dependent on trade for statewide business may also be particularly impacted."
Despite the anticipated impacts of the tariffs that Trump has already imposed, he is expected to go even further, targeting the European Union and beyond. The Tax Policy Center warned in October that "a 20% worldwide tariff and a 60% tariff on Chinese goods, one of many import tax ideas floated by... Trump, would increase household taxes by an average of nearly $3,000 in 2025."
Beyer—who serves on the panel behind the report and the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade—noted Tuesday that "Republicans in Congress could stop this at any time by passing legislation I and others have offered to rein in Trump's abuses of tariff authorities, but they appear content to help Trump raise prices and risk economic disaster."
Separately, Beyer and every other Democrat on the subcommittee released a joint statement stressing that "Americans simply cannot afford to be caught in endless trade wars" and that they "are united in rejecting these irresponsible tariffs designed to increase revenue for more tax cuts for the ultrawealthy."
Republicans control not only the White House but also both chambers of Congress, and GOP House members last month advanced a budget resolution that would fund an extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts for the rich by slashing health and food assistance programs that help millions of working-class Americans.
Beyer and his subcommittee colleagues called on House Republicans "to work with us to reassert Congress' role in setting strategic, stable trade policies and to invest in the American economy, instead of abdicating their responsibilities to President Trump and Elon Musk," the billionaire leading the administration's effort to gut the federal government.
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Dire Warnings as Trump Orders Mass Firing Plans Across Federal Agencies
"This order is the equivalent of putting on a blindfold and smashing everything, without knowing what you're destroying or how many people it hurts," said one journalist.
Feb 26, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his wholesale assault on the federal government and its workforce on Wednesday by ordering agencies to submit plans for mass firings by March 13 as the destructive impacts of the new administration's onslaught ripple across the country.
The president's order came in the form of a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—headed by Project 2025 architect Russell Vought—and the Office of Personnel Management, an agency overtaken by lieutenants of billionaire Elon Musk.
Citing Trump's call for "large-scale reductions in force" across the federal government, the memo states that agencies "should focus on the maximum elimination of functions that are not statutorily mandated while driving the highest-quality, most efficient delivery of their statutorily-required functions."
"Agencies should also seek to consolidate areas of the agency organization chart that are duplicative; consolidate management layers where unnecessary layers exist; seek reductions in components and positions that are non-critical; implement technological solutions that automate routine tasks while enabling staff to focus on higher-value activities; close and/or consolidate regional field offices to the extent consistent with efficient service delivery; and maximally reduce the use of outside consultants and contractors," the memo adds.
HuffPost reporter Jennifer Bendery characterized the new memo as consistent with the wrecking-ball approach that Trump and Musk have taken over the past month as they've moved aggressively to eviscerate federal departments and funding, running roughshod over the law in the process.
"This order is the equivalent of putting on a blindfold and smashing everything, without knowing what you're destroying or how many people it hurts," Bendery wrote on social media.
Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who represents federal workers, toldThe Associated Press that the latest memo from OMB and OPM "looks like a plan for a significant and shocking reduction of the federal workforce that I don't think the American people are prepared for."
"It's going to cripple a lot of government functions," Owen warned.
"Musk is failing up in this administration because he didn't earn his job, he bought it. It's corrupt, and risks Americans' health and safety."
The order came as communities across the country grappled with the consequences of the Trump administration's mass terminations of federal workers and illegal withholding of funds approved by Congress, which is now in the grip of a GOP that has proven subservient to the president.
The federal government is the single-largest employer in the United States, and Trump and Musk's effort to gut entire departments could have far-reaching and devastating economic impacts.
The Washington Postreported earlier this month that "the Trump administration's move to fire thousands of federal employees could have a swift and severe impact on public services... making it harder for veterans to get mental healthcare and hampering electric service to some rural residents as a beleaguered workforce struggles to cover for lost colleagues."
"In an Energy Department subagency that helps provide power, staff who handled homeowners' electricity bills were fired, employees said, potentially leaving no one to take the money that keeps their lights on," the newspaper added. "In one state, all but two of the employees who helmed an Agriculture Department program assisting poor rural communities were fired. And in a tiny Wyoming town, a Forest Service office that has spent decades providing support to hikers, Christmas tree permits to residents, and firewood for the elderly has been forced to shutter, a staffer said."
In some cases, the Trump administration has rushed to rescind terminations after employees responsible for food safety reviews, the federal bird flu response, and nuclear security were caught up in the mass firings—accidentally, the administration claims. Some federal employees have been reinstated by court order.
During the first Cabinet meeting of the second Trump administration on Wednesday, Musk—who is not a Cabinet official—admitted that his so-called Department of Government Efficiency "accidentally" canceled Ebola prevention efforts as it worked to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who represents many federal workers, wrote in response that "an average person who did something as incompetent as 'accidentally canceling Ebola prevention' wouldn't be applauded, they'd be fired."
"Musk is failing up in this administration because he didn't earn his job, he bought it," Beyer added. "It's corrupt, and risks Americans' health and safety."
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Watchdog Warns DOGE Cuts to FAA Make Next Airline Disaster 'More Likely'
"Maybe in the DOGE boys' video game simulations, it doesn't matter if they lay off hundreds of staff from the FAA. In the real world, however, it will make flying less safe," said Public Citizen's Robert Weissman.
Feb 17, 2025
As the Trump administration began firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees amid a surge in plane crashes, a leading U.S. consumer advocacy group warned Monday that the slash-and-burn approach of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is making the "next air travel disaster more likely."
While Musk recently said that DOGE will "aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system," critics have countered that the Trump administration's termination of FAA personnel, including critical air traffic control maintenance staff, poses major risks.
"Maybe in the DOGE boys' video game simulations, it doesn't matter if they lay off hundreds of staff from the FAA. In the real world, however, it will make flying less safe," Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman said in a statement. "Just like having fewer people safeguarding the nation's nuclear arsenal will make the risk of a nuclear accident much greater."
Elon’s DOGE rampage will be a wake up call for what a decimated government really means. Cuts to FAA? Higher risk of plane crashes. Cuts to Forest Service? Higher fire risk. Cuts to the CDC? Higher pandemic risk. Cuts to the EPA? Higher toxic exposures risk — and on and on.
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— Public Citizen (@publiccitizen.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Weissman continued:
The Musk rampage through government is making it virtually certain that we will suffer through otherwise avoidable health, safety, and economic catastrophes. Cutting the Forest Service increases fire risk, cutting the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and blocking information-sharing risks worsening infectious disease outbreaks, cutting the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] guarantees Big Bank and predatory loan ripoffs, cutting [Food and Drug Administration] staff increases the risk for dangerous devices, drugs, and food additives, cutting the [Environmental Protection Agency] will increase the risk of mass toxic exposures, and on and on.
"If permitted to proceed, the mindless Musk-Trump governmental annihilation is going to touch every American community, imposing tragedy upon tragedy," Weissman added.
In a Monday social media post, U.S. Congressman Don Beyer (D-Va.) said that "mass firings of FAA workers—at a time when they already have serious staffing problems—would be dangerous at any time," but "Musk and Trump doing this weeks after the deadliest crash in years is stupid beyond belief."
Public Citizen's warning came on the same day that a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Toronto crashed and overturned on landing. The FAA said all 80 people aboard the flight were rescued. At least a dozen people were injured in the crash, three of them critically, according to the Toronto Star.
While the FAA firings were not a factor in Monday's accident, the Toronto crash was the latest in a recent surge in air disasters. Last month, 67 people were killed when an American Airlines jet and an army helicopter collided at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. According to initial reports, only one air traffic controller was working both civilian and military flights when the crash occurred.
On January 31, seven people died when a medical transport jet crashed near Philadelphia, 10 people were killed in a February 6 Bering Air commuter flight crash in Alaska, and one person died when a private plane belonging to Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil crashed during landing in Arizona last Monday after its landing gear failed to properly deploy.
We condemn the decision to fire these safety inspectors. Everywhere I go I am asked, “is it safe to fly?” My response is yes because thousands of frontline workers ask that all day long. If federal workers can’t do their jobs, we can’t do ours. 1/2 www.passnational.org/index.php/ne...
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— Sara Nelson (@flyingwithsara.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
David Spero, national president of Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, the union representing more than 11,000 FAA and Defense Department personnel who install, inspect, and maintain air traffic control systems, said in a statement Saturday that the Trump administration's terminations "will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin."
"This decision did not consider the staffing needs of the FAA, which is already challenged by understaffing," Spero added. "Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agency's mission-critical needs. To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety. And it is especially unconscionable in the aftermath of three deadly aircraft accidents in the past month."
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