We Pay the Tariffs

What most of us don’t realize about tariffs is … that we, the consumers of our country, are the ones who pay.  It is a tax on ourselves where, whether by intent or coincidence, it overwhelms any supposed income tax relief. Beyond that, the imposition of improper tariffs have been factors contributing to economic depressions and even civil wars. From the very beginning of our nation our government has used tariffs as a means to encourage and protect local industries and, for the most part, it worked. It allowed small entrepreneurs to grow and compete with long established industries in foreign nations. When administered by the Congress, tariffs often favored some states over others. Finally, in the early 20th Century, Congress handed the power of imposing tariffs to the Executive Branch in order to more nearly serve the needs of the whole country.
I am naive in Economics. So I’ve reached the conclusion that we, the consumers, pay the tariff by a simple thought experiment.  I arbitrarily chose Television sets as an example.  I purchased my 1st TV in 1959, probably a Motorola 19 or 20 inch B&W table model.  The choice of manufacturers at that time were US companies such as RCA, Westinghouse, and Admiral. All of these companies were soon using components supplied by startup Asian companies who had unlimited cheap labor and who, by the 1970’s, had completely forced the US companies out of the TV manufacturing business. So now that all of our TVs are imported, let’s decide to impose a 10% tariff on their price to the US consumer. A friend buys a $1200 Sony TV several months before the tariff is imposed. Now, I purchase the same TV and find that the price is $1300.  Customs collects 10% of the import value of $1000 from the merchant and sends it to the U.S.Treasury. The local merchant adds $200 as his profit to his new cost of $1100 and sells the TV to me for $1300. I have now paid the tariff imposed on Japanese TVs.
Such a tax could greatly benefit our Nation if it were designated to reduce our National Debt … rather than to build some wall …