A failed policy is costing Americans their livelihoods while delivering none of its promises
By: Ya Libnan-, Op.Ed
Recent data leave little room for debate: the 2025–2026 tariffs have failed to revive U.S. manufacturing and are now actively harming American workers, consumers, and businesses.
Instead of sparking an industrial comeback, the tariffs have functioned as a regressive domestic tax, driving layoffs, suppressing hiring, raising prices, and injecting uncertainty into the economy—exactly the opposite of what was promised.
The warning signs are flashing red.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs in January 2026, the highest January total since 2009, at the depths of the global financial crisis. That figure represents a 118% increase from January 2025 and a 205% jump from December 2025. At the same time, companies announced just 5,306 new hires, the lowest January hiring figure since records began in 2009.
Manufacturing—the very sector the tariffs were supposed to protect—has been hit especially hard. Between April and December 2025 alone, 72,000 manufacturing jobs were eliminated. Far from encouraging companies to expand production at home, the tariffs disrupted supply chains, delayed investment decisions, and raised input costs for U.S. manufacturers.
The economic burden has fallen overwhelmingly on Americans. Roughly 96% of tariff costs are paid by U.S. importers and consumers, not foreign exporters. These tariffs have added an estimated 0.7 percentage points to inflation, eroding purchasing power at a time when households are already stretched thin.
Nor have the tariffs achieved their stated trade goals. The U.S. trade deficit remains near record highs, underscoring a fundamental truth: tariffs do not fix structural trade imbalances. They merely reshuffle costs—usually onto domestic workers and families.
History should have warned us. From the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the 1930s to more recent trade wars, U.S. history shows that broad tariffs consistently fail. They deepen downturns, invite retaliation, and slow growth. The Great Depression remains the clearest—and most painful—proof.
Public opinion is now catching up to economic reality. A recent Marquette Law School Poll shows that more than six in ten Americans want the Supreme Court to limit the president’s authority to impose tariffs, reflecting growing concern over executive overreach and economic damage. The message is unmistakable: Americans want relief, not more self-inflicted wounds.
If the goal is truly to save U.S. jobs, strengthen industry, and lower costs, then the solution is clear. It is time for Donald Trump to abandon a failed tariff policy and pursue strategies that actually work—investment in skills, infrastructure, innovation, and stable trade relationships.
Tariffs are not an industrial policy. They are a tax on Americans. And the longer they remain in place, the higher the cost we all pay.
