Who pays Trump's tariffs, the nation they are imposed on or U.S. customers and companies? - Reuters

Importers often pass the costs of tariffs on to customers - manufacturers and consumers in the United States - by raising their prices.

U.S. President Donald Trump says China pays the tariffs he has imposed on $250 billion of Chinese exports to the United States.

But that is not how tariffs work. China’s government and companies in China do not pay tariffs directly. Tariffs are a tax on imports. They are paid by U.S.-registered firms to U.S. customs for the goods they import into the United States.

Importers often pass the costs of tariffs on to customers - manufacturers and consumers in the United States - by raising their prices.  U.S. business executives and economists say U.S. consumers foot much of the bill through rising prices.

Chinese suppliers do shoulder some of the cost of U.S. tariffs in indirect ways. Exporters sometimes, for instance, are forced to offer U.S. importers a discount to help defray the costs of higher U.S. duties.

But U.S.-based importers are managing the higher tax burden in a number of ways that hurt U.S. companies and customers more than China.

U.S. companies and consumers paid $3 billion a month in additional taxes because of tariffs on Chinese goods and on aluminum and steel from around the globe, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Princeton University, and Columbia University. Companies shouldered an additional $1.4 billion in costs related to lost efficiency in 2018, the study found.

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Defining Socialism, Democratic Socialism, and Social Democracy

If we are going to have informed discussion about politics and political theories, using the correct terminology and understanding their definitions is essential.

Social Democracy:
Supports economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a liberal democratic polity and a capitalist-oriented economy.

The protocols and norms used to accomplish this involve a commitment to representative and participatory democracy, measures for income redistribution, regulation of the economy in the general interest, and social welfare provisions.  (Citation)

Democratic Socialism:
Advocates for political democracy alongside a socially-owned economy, with a particular emphasis on workers' self-management and democratic control of economic institutions; either within a market socialist economy or some form of a decentralized planned socialist economy.

Although most democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to socialism, democratic socialism can support either revolutionary or reformist politics as means to establish socialism. As a term, democratic socialism was popularized by social democrats who were opposed to the authoritarian socialist development in Russia and elsewhere during the 20th century.  (Citation)

Socialism:
Encompasses a range of economic and social systems characterized by social ownership of the means of production and workers' self-management of enterprise.

Social ownership can be public, collective or cooperative ownership, or citizen ownership of equity. There are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them, but social ownership is the common element shared by its various forms.  (Citation)

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