Tariffs: A Simple Policy With Expensive Consequences
Insights From Inside a U S Manufacturing Company
We own and operate a commercial building products company that fabricates rooftop accessories for major firms across the U S and Canada. And like many American manufacturers, we have seen firsthand how tariffs actually work, not in theory, but in real life.
When tariffs hit, we paid them. Not the overseas suppliers. Not foreign governments. Us.
We purchase certain components and raw material internationally, and when a 25 percent tariff was imposed, the cost landed squarely on our desk. At first, we tried to absorb what we could to stay competitive, but no business can carry that forever. Eventually, those costs had to make their way into our pricing.
And that is where the truth becomes clear. The end customer pays. Every time.
A recent example: our aluminum supplier just announced a 0.45 per pound increase, roughly a 19 percent jump, citing expected tariffs. By the time that increase moves through manufacturers, distributors, contractors, and finally the building owner, it multiplies. With margins added at each step, the final cost is not 19 percent higher. It is five to ten times that.
This is not a theory. It is an economic reality supported by real world research that impacts nearly all sectors of our economy. Studies conducted for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the National Bureau of Economic Research show that recent U.S. tariffs were passed through almost entirely to U S importers and consumers. In other words, Americans bore nearly the entire burden of those tariffs in the form of higher prices.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs summarized this work clearly, noting that U.S. consumers “bore nearly the entire burden of the tariffs, with steel being the sole exception.” These findings closely match what we experience in our own industry every time a new tariff wave is announced.
Tariffs are not foreign cash flowing into America. They are a tax on American manufacturers, American businesses, and ultimately American consumers.
The rhetoric says America First.
The reality? You pay more. Every time.
Sources
Federal Reserve Bank of New York and NBER Research
Amiti, Redding, and Weinstein. “Who Is Paying for the US Tariffs A Longer Term Perspective.”
American Economic Association, Papers and Proceedings, 2020.
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20201018
United Nations Economic Brief summarizing Federal Reserve findings
World Economic Situation and Prospects Monthly Briefing, March 2025.
https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/world-economic-situation-and-prospects-monthly-briefing-no-182-march-2025