"Just Got My First Tariff Bill": People Are Sharing How The "Trump Tax" Is Showing Up In Their Lives
1.On August 29, President Trump's executive order ending the de minimis rule took effect, which means that more Americans are now seeing his tariffs in action. De minimis previously excluded shipments valued under $800 from being subject to these import taxes, like the small shipments many people order every day from online retailers. A representative for the Consumer Federation of America told NPR that around 4 million de minimis orders were processed in a typical day.
According to data from the Yale Budget Lab, the tariffs have brought in $88 billion in revenue this year so far, with $23 billion of that coming in just August alone. Despite Trump's repeated claims that other countries will eat the cost of the tariffs, tariffs are ultimately charged to the importers in the US, and companies are expected to pass these extra costs along to the consumer.
2.Now, consumers like the redditor who posted the screenshot below are on the hook for paying tariffs and processing fees.
This poster wrote, "Being charged $54 in tariffs for a $100 jacket from Japan. Insane fees. $36.50 of it is the actual tariffs, and the rest is DHL fees. So, being charged over 36% for a jacket that was made in the USA, just being sold by a Japanese eBay seller. The new tariffs are so awful for commerce. The job of government is supposed to be to facilitate commerce. What a joke. But at least our lord and savior Donald Christ gets a bigger pot of money to grift and siphon from our government and economy and into his pocket."
3.Here's another example of an order that would have previously come in under the de minimis rule that is now subject to tariffs. This order, totalling $42 from a coffee accessory company based in Taiwan, led to an additional charge of $29.25 from DHL.
FatOldRedhead / Via reddit.com
Most imports from Taiwan are currently subject to a 20% tariff, so if you're good at math, you might be thinking, "Wait, why is the DHL import duty charge so high?" Well, shipping companies like DHL, UPS, and FedEx also charge consumers fees for processing the paperwork involved in paying tariffs. This means that the end cost of paying a tariff on a small online order may be much larger than you anticipate.
4.Some companies have integrated the cost of tariffs into their checkout carts to avoid these surprise costs. A Reddit user shared the screenshot below that they came across while doing some early Christmas shopping.
The tariff fees are listed in the cart as "duties," but the user has labeled them "Trump Tax." Some sites have labeled the tariffs as "import fees" or "import taxes." This Reddit user wrote, "Tariffs are a tax on consumers like anyone and everyone who so much as happened to stand next to a basic economics textbook is aware, and MAGA is a confederacy of morons for buying into Cheetolini's weird fantasy that 'trillions are pouring into our country.'"
5.As a result of these newly added costs, more than 30 countries, including Australia, India, and Japan, have suspended shipments to the US. Additionally, some companies, like the one in the screenshot below, have independently chosen to stop shipments to the US.
They explained the decision, writing, "It is not possible for us as a retailer to absorb these costs in the long term. At this time, we cannot offer the service to pay this [tariff] cost to us ahead of shipment."
6.Small business owners in the US have been bearing the brunt of the tariffs since earlier this year. This artist recently tweeted out the UPS customs bill they got just for two baseball hat samples ordered from a Chinese manufacturer.
Their invoice shows the same two hats being subject to several different tariffs, totalling $3.96, and a disbursement fee of $14.00. When one item is subject to multiple tariffs, that's called "tariff stacking," and it has had the largest effects on businesses that import products from China.
7.Small businesses based abroad are also taking a hit due to US shoppers deciding not to purchase from them. This Canadian Etsy seller wrote on Reddit, "Since adding US tariffs to my shipping prices, US customers have stopped buying. If this doesn't change, it's going to kill my business. There aren't enough customers in Canada to sustain us, and I can't eat the cost of the tariffs, so what am I supposed to do now?"
Another seller chimed in, writing, "Nothing. Genuinely, there's nothing you can do. I stopped shipping to the US, and it killed 80% of my sales. We're all shit out of luck in different ways."
8.Trump's tariff plan was intended to bring manufacturing back to the US, but so far, that hasn't happened. In fact, the latest federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that manufacturing jobs are down by 78,000 for the year so far, 42,000 of which are jobs that have been lost since Trump announced the tariffs in April.
Economic uncertainty caused by the tariffs, crackdowns on immigrant workers, and high interest rates are being blamed for the slowdown.
Have you noticed any effects of the tariffs? Tell me all about it in the comments!
Current tariff policy could put nearly 1 million more Americans below poverty line in 2026
President Trump's tariffs could put nearly 1 million more Americans below the poverty line, according to The Budget Lab at Yale.