Tariffs will Make It More Expensive to Invest in America

Tariffs will Make It More Expensive to Invest in America

Over the past several months, several commentators have referred to tariffs as a consumption tax (here, here, and here). There is a certain intuition behind this—an excise tax is levied on the purchase of imported goods, many of which are final consumer goods. However, there is an important difference—tariffs apply to capital goods like machinery and equipment used by businesses. This means that tariffs, unlike consumption taxes, can penalize in…

The program “En Contraste” addressed this week the impact of tariffs on the Guatemalan economy. For the analysis, Armando Castillo, former presidential candidate for the VIVA party, and Ronald Portillo, deputy of the Vamos bench. During the program, Castillo warned that tariffs represent a risk to Guatemalan exports, especially because 32% of national products are destined for the United States, which would make them more expensive to the final …