The Trump administration’s claim that Americans will feel comforted by gas price drops offsetting the cost of the president’s tariffs doesn’t add up.
A report from Axios notes that any savings Americans may see at the pump are minimal compared to the thousands in added consumer costs from President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff plans.
The current average price for regular gas is $3.179, according to AAA, a drop of 40 cents from the same time last year. Based on average usage of just under 500 gallons of gas per year, Axios estimates this amounts to about $200 in annual savings per vehicle.
But an analysis from the Yale Budget Lab suggests the average household will pay roughly $2,300 more per year as a result of Trump’s tariffs.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Axios report also suggests the Trump administration is finally admitting that has been obvious to many for a while—that American consumers, not foreign countries like China, will bear the brunt of the president’s trade war.
Trump dropped the pretense on Saturday, posting a Truth Social rant demanding that Walmart “EAT THE TARIFFS” rather than raise prices to protect itself from the impact of the president’s tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted over the weekend that Trump’s tariffs will push prices higher for Walmart shoppers.
“Walmart will be absorbing some of the tariffs, some may get passed on to consumers,” Bessent told CNN’s State of the Union on Saturday.
He also claimed Walmart customers would care more about saving money on gas than paying more at the checkout.
Walmart’s chief financial officer John David Rainey told the Associated Press the company was forced to raise prices in recent weeks because of Trump’s tariffs as “there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter.”
In a statement to Axios, White House spokesperson Kush Desai insisted that the U.S. has “the leverage to make our trading partners ultimately bear the cost of tariffs.”
“The data backs us up: We’ve now had three months of below-expectation inflation reports after enacting tariffs, especially on China. Low inflation, robust jobs reports, and trillions in historic investment commitments prove that President Trump’s agenda—tariffs, rapid deregulation, tax cuts, and domestic energy production—is laying the groundwork to restore American greatness,” Desai said.
On May 12, Trump announced that his proposed 145 percent tariffs on China—by far the highest of any nation—would be temporarily reduced to 30 percent for at least 90 days.
In response, Beijing slashed its tariffs on American goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.
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