31 Americans Who Really, Really Don't Understand Tariffs (2025)

One of the hot-button issues in US politics lately? Tariffs. President Donald Trump has gone back and forth on the controversial issue, announcing tariffs on imports from other countries before later imposing delays. The results have been nothing short of disastrous — from retaliatory tariffs to deep stock market declines to rising prices. Some of this has come as a shock to Trump supporters and conservatives, who seemed to think tariffs would A) force other countries to foot the bill and B) drive business back to America. However, this is not the case. Tariffs cause many American companies to pay more for the same goods, a cost often passed down to the consumer in the form of rising prices, as companies don't want to lose that money. And while buying American is a noble idea, many popular brands are based abroad, and many items are not produced (or can only be expensively produced) in the US. Even items made in America often use materials from other countries. And let's not forget how much these tariffs' impact on the stock market has already harmed many Americans. Look, tariffs are confusing — we get it. But I have to say, it's a little infuriating to see Trump supporters blindly supporting tariffs with absolutely no idea of their actual effects or how they work. Here are 31 people who were just so, so wrong about tariffs and US trade in general. 1. At least this person was aware of their ignorance. 2. As was this person. 3. This person didn't know the difference between imports and exports. 4. This person was bafflingly incorrect. In case you didn't know, iPhones are mostly assembled in China, which is facing massive tariffs. 5. ...Yes. Yes, we do. 6. This suggestion that Nintendo – a massive Japanese company — move their entire company to the US is just baffling. 7. Once again...Nintendo is a Japanese company. 8. ...Yeah, that's totally how that works. 9. These terrible ideas and ill-informed comments are not just coming from the dark recesses of the internet — they're right there on the news. 10. Complete inaccuracies are literally being spouted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. 11. Once again, we are not taxing the rest of the world with tariffs. We're taxing ourselves. 12. This claim about other countries "caving" to tariffs is laughable considering the retaliatory tariffs. 13. This person clearly just unquestioningly believed Trump without doing any thinking of their own...which seems like a common thing with Trump supporters. 14. I think this person had this the wrong way around — it'd be more accurate to say we survive by buying products from China. 15. This person was also really confused about how much our economy relies on materials and products from China. 16. Oh look, another person overestimating the impact on China and forgetting how much the US relies on them. 17. It's kind of wild to say "economically speaking, you can't hurt us" about Canada, considering 62% of the crude oil we imported last year was from Canada. In 2022, 99% of the natural gas we imported was from Canada. 18. Does this person really think America doesn't import anything? And what do they even mean by "other countries import goods to our country?" They were accidentally right when they claimed the companies importing the goods pay the tariffs, but...again, that means US companies. 19. Quick note: tariffs have nothing to do with income tax! 20. The US is not, in fact, holding all the cards. 21. ...Maybe they meant 48% of the US rice supply? 22. *Sigh*. It's a lot more complicated than buying American! 23. Buying American coffee is going to vastly limit your options, and we know what a high demand and small supply means. 24. I hope "France wishes they had Wisconsin cheese" is a joke. 25. I hope this is a joke, too. 26. This claim is just wrong on multiple levels. 27. I feel like this person is reallyyyy not understanding that those tariffs are not being paid by Mexico — they're being paid by American companies. 28. At least this person was trying to get clarification, but you gotta love that they had to ask who pays for tariffs AFTER voting for Trump. 29. "Bro, American cheese is the most exported cheese on this planet." Oh, boy. 30. Soybeans? Mines??? What in the... 31. And finally, the irony of this person saying "getting ripped off had to end at some point"...then describing being ripped off...*Sigh.* References