How Did the 2018–19 U.S. Tariff Hikes Influence Household Spending?

Nie, Jun; Yang, Shu-Kuei X.; von Ende-Becker, Alice

doi:10.18651/ER/v106n4NievonEndeBeckerYang

Journal Article

How Did the 2018–19 U.S. Tariff Hikes Influence Household Spending?

Abstract: Jun Nie, Alice von Ende-Becker, and Shu-Kuei X. Yang construct a tariff intensity measure to assess the uneven effects of the 2018–19 tariff increases across different types of households. They find that low-income households were more exposed to tariff increases than high-income households; younger households were more exposed than older households; Black households were more exposed than white or Asian households; and Hispanic households were more exposed than non-Hispanic households. In addition, they find that the tariff increases led to only a small shift in household spending from categories that were more exposed to tariff increases to categories that were less exposed to tariff hikes by the end of 2019.

Keywords: Tarrifs; Expenditures; Imports; China;

JEL Classification: F10;

https://doi.org/10.18651/ER/v106n4NievonEndeBeckerYang