Business

Pro-trade group: Cost of Trump tariffs hits $20B

President Trump’s trade wars have cost consumers over $20 billion, according to a pro-trade advocacy group that lobbies against tariffs.

Trump has imposed billions of dollars in tariffs on goods imported from China, as well as instituting a slew of tariffs on steel and aluminum on close trade partners.

{mosads}According to the campaign Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, which commissioned the data from market research firm Trade Partnership Worldwide, Americans are feeling the effects in multiple ways.

The retaliatory tariffs that China, Europe and other trade partners have imposed on the U.S. have cost U.S. exporters almost $16 billion, according to the group.

The Trump administration says it has been making progress in trade negotiations with China, but an expected meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has reportedly been postponed from March to at least April.

Trump argues that the tariffs have pressured China to make concessions. He agreed to postpone a planned increase of the China tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent. The increase had been scheduled to go into effect on March 1.