Instead of immediately passing tariff costs to consumers, US corporations are initially absorbing the shock. They are mitigating the impact by reducing labor costs and accepting lower profitability, which explains the lag between tariff implementation and broad consumer inflation.

A 100% tariff on foreign-made films would severely damage the very US companies it purports to help. Major studios like Netflix and Marvel produce over half their content overseas to manage costs. The tariff would gut their business models, raise consumer prices, and invite reciprocal tariffs, crippling a key American export industry.

Despite tariffs making imports more expensive, moving furniture production back to the US is seen as unrealistic. The primary obstacle is not financial, but a critical shortage of trained workers who can and want to do the work, a deficit that tariffs cannot fix.

Ford builds over 80% of its US-sold vehicles domestically. However, this scale requires importing the most parts, so US tariffs on parts penalize Ford more heavily than companies that import whole vehicles at a lower effective tariff rate, creating a competitive disadvantage.

Tariffs are a direct tax paid by the domestic importer, period. This functions as a significant, unacknowledged fiscal tightening by massively increasing the corporate tax bill. This drain on the economy is a primary driver of the current recessionary impulse, contrary to political narratives.

Tariffs on foreign goods, combined with 'Buy America' provisions for a port modernization project, had the unintended effect of massively increasing costs. Even though the project used domestic steel, tariffs on foreign steel allowed U.S. suppliers to raise their prices, contributing to the project's budget ballooning from $400 million to $2.5 billion.

While large firms like NVIDIA can onshore manufacturing, small hardware startups relying on Chinese production are the primary casualties of tariffs. They lack the scale to move supply chains or secure exemptions, eroding their margins and weakening their negotiating position with investors.

Tariffs are creating a stagflationary effect on the economy. This is visible in PMI data, which shows muted business activity while the "prices paid" component remains high. This combination of slowing growth and rising costs acts as a significant "speed break" on the economy without stopping it entirely.

Far from being a precise tool against China, recent US tariffs act as a blunt instrument that harms America's own interests. They tax raw materials and machine tools needed for domestic production and hit allies harder than adversaries. This alienates partners, disrupts supply chains, and pushes the world towards a 'World Minus One' economic coalition excluding the US.