Channeling Bernie Sanders, Trump Now Proposes a 45% Tariff on Imported Goods

[ABX]

He has gone up from the 25% he proposed before.

So the average Joe gets to pay way, way more at the store and gets to worry about losing his job after China inevitably retaliates with tariffs of its own, shrinking foreign demand for U.S. goods? That sounds like a plan.

Four years ago, when Trump flirted with running for president, he suggested a 25 percent tariff on Chinese goods. Now it’s 45 percent. Is that based on an economic calculation or is it just Trump getting a little crazier with the protectionist cheez whiz to prove he’s more populist now than ever?

    “The only power that we have with China,” Mr. Trump said, “is massive trade.”…

    “I would do a tax. and the tax, let me tell you what the tax should be … the tax should be 45 percent,” Mr. Trump said.



http://hotair.com/archives/2016/01/07/trump-how-does-a-giant-45-tariff-on-all-the-cheap-chinese-goods-you-buy-sound/

[ABX]

This is also one of those populist calls that people really don't know the facts on. So how much do we import from China?  $224.6 billion worth of goods- but that's not just from China, that's our total imports. Shipments from China represent only 19% of that.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/imports

That sounds massive right?

Do you know how much China imports annually?  $1.962 trillion worth of goods. Yes, you read that right- eight times what we import.  $120 billion, or 8.2% of that is from the US- but it shows they are far more import demanding than we are.
http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/top_china_imports.html

Who really is harmed if we kick a 45% tariff on imports from China?