Who Pays Tariffs? I Do.

In this video, Lee Morris discusses how import tariffs have affected his businesses and all Americans.

[jgyeaman]

I design guitar pedals and when you said you tried to have stuff made in the USA and it failed miserably, that really hit home. MANY years ago we found an AMAZING PCB manufacturer in China and they have been our go-to. They've never failed us. During Trumps first term we got hit with tariffs (basically a ransom for our already paid for parts to get through customs) and tried going with a USA manufacturer. We paid 4 times the price and received a forth of the quality. Almost all the boards were useless. We went with a second American PCB manufacturer and that was also a costly disaster. I'm just a dude with a wife and 2 kids, we don't have employees.

[fibermillshq]

I’m Chinese, living in Shenzhen. Let me give you an example: In China, a Type-C charging cable costs about 10 RMB (~$1.3 USD). But during a business trip to California, I saw the same cable priced at $10 USD. I suspect the Chinese factory only makes around $0.5 USD in profit.

Now, if the U.S. adds a 50% tariff, do you really think the Chinese factory will slash its price to 5 RMB (~$0.6 USD)? Unlikely. So who ends up absorbing the cost? It’s the U.S. distributors and retailers—they’ll pass the tariff onto consumers by raising prices. The same logic applies to most products.

The truth is, most Chinese factories already operate on razor-thin profits. They can’t cut prices further. In the end, it’s American buyers who pay the price.

[supeejuntranggur]

Being a photography channel but saying this when that time calls, I salute you.

[Daijobustory]

It baffled me when i found out people thought the manufacturing countries would pay the tariffs. I mean, don't you people go to school?

[Slowjo]

I haven’t seen a comment section with people this aware in quite some time. It’s refreshing.

[SterlingSanders]

Actual real life experience. Logic. Reason. Facts. Truth. Bravo!

[Skipsul]

US manufacturer myself. You're just talking about 1 product with a few different parts. The madness of this only scales up.

[ahindawi]

Thank you for the explaining all of this to your audience.

[CantListentoBS]

While many are talking about 34% or 20% increases, no one is factoring in the cost due to reputational damage. America's reputation is in tatters at the moment and no one will trust it commercially or militarily for decades. The damage is done, especially in "your" "51st" state and "pathetic" europe. These things won't be forgotten.

[LilloDolla]

It's very simple guys. The government is 33 trillion dollars in debt and it needs money to balance the federal budget, because what they spend is more than what they take in in taxes. Why? Because they refuse to tax big businesses and billionaires, which is where most of the money in the economy ends up. But they have no problem making the little guy pay for it. That's why they fired a ton of public workers (federal workers), that's why they'll cut social security, medicare and medicaid, and that's why they want to tax YOU with tariffs and take money from your pockets, as everything will be more expensive for YOU. They just sugar coated it as "trimming the fat and government waste", and "other countries pay the tariffs", and people clapped their hands and voted him.

[IvanRiveraStagea]

I haven't seen Lee this candid since the Covid series. Thank you for making this video.

[eleven]

It's frustrating when people keep saying the exporting company/country pays the tariff. There's not much you can counter with other than, "no that's not correct". It's like arguing that 1+1 doesn't equal 2.

[ClintGibbs]

As someone who works in a manufacturing organization in the US, this is 100% true. I just cannot fathom the reasoning behind disrupting global supply chains that have taken decades to build and put in place. Thank you for the voice of reason on YouTube, which is not common.

[vincentpolisi]

This is the most intelligent and accurate explanation I’ve seen anywhere. I keep trying to explain that tariffs are a direct tax on American consumers passed through the importers and they don’t understand basic economics to grasp the reality.

As odd as it is to say, this was a bold and courageous move to make doing this video given the flash mob lash back potential.

[mikegeekie]

Trade deficits are a totally NORMAL indicator of trade - IT IS NOT A PROBLEM TO BE ADDRESSED, ESPECIALLY WITH TARIFFS. Trade imbalances are due to different amounts of buying levels from the trading partners.
Here's how it works: Country A's populace is large and has a huge amount of disposable income and can therefore afford to spend lots of money on imports from Country B.
Country B's populace is smaller and has less wealth, so they import less into their country from Country A - they simply can't afford it. So, the Trade Deficit in this case is an indicator that Country A's population is greater and wealthier than that of Country B.
There is NO REASON to implement tariffs based on a trade imbalance.
None. Makes no sense.

[GaymerXL]

This is the only way we affect real change. It's to have channels like this, that aren't politically oriented, explaining tariffs to people who don't understand.

[gordon]

Tariffs are the greatest rebranding of Import Tax ever.🤔

[marble_wraith]

Another point you didn't mention. 50% of China's graduates leave school being qualified in a STEM field. The US isn't anywhere close to achieving that.

Meaning even if the tariffs were in fact a way to incentivize manufacturing in the US, the population lacks the skills in order to stand them up.

[SandiSandi-wx]

We in EU go OUT OF OUR WAY to NOT buy "made in usa".
You brought this to yourself!
Now be amazed!

[jameslazar]

Thanks for putting this video together. I wish every American citizen would watch this. Such a simple concept; I have no idea why so many people are not grasping it.