Trump’s Tariffs Backfired for Most Americans; But Farmers Are Thriving

In 2018, then, President Donald Trump declared a bold strategy: slap tariffs on foreign imports, punish trade partners, and shrink America’s growing trade deficit. It was, in his words, about “winning” again—reclaiming jobs, reviving factories, and restoring national pride.

But seven years later, the numbers—and the stories behind them, paint a different picture.

In 2025, the U.S. trade deficit has surged 66% higher than it was just last year. Despite promises to narrow the gap, the opposite has happened. One of the biggest winners? India, whose exports to the United States have jumped 29%, filling voids left by disrupted Chinese supply chains and the relentless appetite of American consumers.

For millions of those consumers, life has gotten more expensive. Much more expensive.

“Everything from shoes to school uniforms is up way up,” says Danielle Moore, a single mother of two in Ohio. “I’m spending at least $200 more a month on basics I used to take for granted.”

She’s not alone. Across the country, the average American household is now paying about $2,500 more per year for goods, thanks largely to the ripple effects of tariffs. Clothing and footwear prices alone shot up 30% almost overnight, straining budgets and souring sentiment.

But not everyone is hurting.

Out in the Midwest, farmers are feeling a rare sense of hope. With the government leading new trade missions to Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, and brokering bilateral agricultural deals, export optimism is on the rise.

“For the first time in a long while, we’re not just hanging on, we’re looking to expand,” says Jake Ralston, a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer in Iowa. “Markets we never thought possible are opening up.”

Ralston recently signed a deal to export corn feed to a distributor in Vietnam, a move he credits to a U.S. Department of Agriculture-led trade delegation that visited the region last fall.

Still, the national mood is conflicted.

A recent Pew survey shows that only 18% of Americans now believe free trade is beneficial to the country, a stark decline from previous decades. The erosion in trust reflects a growing unease: even as some sectors win, the broader promise of globalization feels broken.

“People are tired of paying more and feeling like they’re getting less,” says an economist at Georgetown University. “Tariffs were supposed to be about fairness, but they ended up acting like a tax on the middle class.”

So where does that leave the nation?

Caught between old promises and new realities. Trump’s tariffs may have aimed to fix trade imbalances, but they’ve redrawn the map of winners and losers, shaken faith in free markets, and opened a deeper national debate: What kind of economy does America really want?

For now, families like Danielle’s are trimming budgets, farmers like Jake are chasing export dreams, and a country built on trade is questioning the very system that built it.

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