Ever since April 2, 2025, coined “Liberation Day” by President Donald Trump due to the imposition of tariffs on international imports, immediate impacts were seen, such as a drop in the stock market by around 12%. This raised concern for many Americans, according to Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and alumnus David Feith (‘05), and stands to lead to many personal economic impacts as well as international negotiations.
Five months later, the stock market has recovered, with a 9.5% surge and the US has negotiated trade deals with many countries. While the tariffs’ impacts are still not certain, he thinks there are positive outcomes to consider.
“Some of the so-far positive effects include commitments by foreign companies to increase investment in the United States, including some investments in things like advanced manufacturing and the building of semiconductor fabrication facilities that are strategically significant,” Feith said. “So the effect of the tariff policy on getting trade partners to invest in the United States, in order to avoid the imposition of threatened tariffs, has certainly had some good effects.”
Like Feith, High School History Department Chair and economics teacher Carl Atwood recognizes a lot of uncertainty about how Americans will be impacted by the tariffs. However, he identifies some possible concerns about supply and pricing.
“Generally, when tariffs are announced, there is a rush to import goods before the actual price of the tariff comes into effect,” Atwood said. “So we’ll have a short term increase in the trade deficit as importers are buying up inventory immediately. Then once the inventory runs out, and now they’re importing under the new tariff schedule, then the consumers will eventually start to see more and more price impacts on products.”
Trump and President of China Xi Jinping are set to further negotiate trade deals at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea on Oct. 31.
In addition to these talks that will possibly lower the current 50% tariff on China, according to Feith, a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the tariffs will take place on Nov. 5, 2025. This court decision challenges the Trump administration’s claim that according to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the president can have emergency powers without checking with congress in an emergency situation, according to Atwood. In this case, the emergency situation is a trade deficit.
“My understanding is that when that law was written it was more for if America is under attack or has an enemy, and it would be a dangerous problem to be importing or exporting with certain countries that are supporting that enemy,” Atwood said.
As Trump continues to change or refine the tariff policy, there is a space at JDS to talk about the possible benefits and detriments.
“We talked about it during our first session of the school year, and especially as the tariffs start to really affect us, I’m sure it’s going to be brought up again and again,” sophomore and co-president of Political Discussions Club Megan Poretsky said.
As the economic landscape continues to shift with the upcoming talks in October and pending Supreme Court decision, Feith and Atwood agree that the full impact of the tariffs is yet to be determined.
“I think we don’t know the full impacts yet,” Feith said. “It’s certainly too soon to tell, and these things have to be measured over a longer time frame than we’ve yet had.”
