The study found that only about 4% of the tariff burden is shouldered by foreign firms, with a “near-complete” pass-through of 96% to US buyers.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-19/americans-bear-almost-all-the-cost-of-trump-tariffs-study-shows
Posted by bloomberg
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*Brendan Murray for Bloomberg News*
President Donald Trump’s duties on imported goods are paid almost entirely by American importers, their domestic customers and ultimately US consumers, a study from a German think tank concluded.
“Foreign exporters did not meaningfully reduce their prices in response to US tariff increases,” a report released Monday by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy said. “The $200 billion surge in customs revenue represents $200 billion extracted from American businesses and households.”
The study found that only about 4% of the tariff burden is shouldered by foreign firms, with a “near-complete” pass-through of 96% to US buyers that pay the levies and then must either absorb them or raise selling prices. Manufacturers and retailers are next in line in deciding whether they’ll pass along their higher costs or deal with tighter margins.
“The tariff functions not as a tax on foreign producers, but as a consumption tax on Americans,” Kiel researchers Julian Hinz, Aaron Lohmann, Hendrik Mahlkow and Anna Vorwig wrote.
[Read the full story here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-19/americans-bear-almost-all-the-cost-of-trump-tariffs-study-shows?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2ODgyNDgyOCwiZXhwIjoxNzY5NDI5NjI4LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOTNYRkZLSkg2VjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.wbnELF7AQeUFcUcB9wi72kxTJrGAgC34fnJcq35rPVA)
Shocked.