Financial Association news on November 5th (Editor: Bian Chun) - A study released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) on Monday showed that if the new import tariff proposal by Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is implemented, American consumers could potentially lose up to $78 billion in purchasing power annually.

Trump proposed a package tariff of 10% to 20% on almost all imported goods, as well as a 60% or higher tariff on goods from China.

The NRF study indicates that the proposed tariffs will affect categories of consumer goods such as outfits, toys, furniture, appliances, footwear, and travel goods, particularly impacting products where China is a major supplier.

Challenges faced by American retailers may worsen.

In recent years, due to high inflation, consumers have become increasingly frugal, opting to limit expenses by curbing non-essential spending, which has affected the sales of American retailers and consumer goods companies.

"Retailers heavily rely on imported products and manufactured parts so they can offer a variety of products to customers at reasonable prices." Jonathan Gold, NRF's Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy, stated.

The report asserts that if the import tariffs are implemented, it will further worsen the impact on low-income families, causing their budgets to tighten further and making it more difficult for them to purchase daily necessities.

Although tariffs are paid by importers in the USA, they inevitably pass on higher commodity prices to American consumers, partly because the tariffs are too high for retailers to absorb on their own.

Taking Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, and other companies as examples, some of their products come from countries like Mexico, and they may have no other choice but to pass on these costs to consumers.

Last month, NRF predicted that holiday sales in the USA from November to December will increase by 3.5% to reach $989 billion, which will be the lowest level in six years.

Editor/ping