DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.

One week after voters punished Republicans over rising prices in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump’s White House signaled that it would press ahead with tariffs. The position remains unchanged even as a former top economic advisor warns that American consumers are paying the price.

Jim Goyer, Trump’s director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, defended tariffs Tuesday during the B20 summit in Washington. The gathering of global business leaders was hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Goyer presented the duties as a tool for rebuilding U.S. manufacturing, securing supply chains and protecting national security. “And we are just getting started,” Goyer said. “Our ambition is to continue this pace for the remainder of the president’s term in office.”

Gary Cohn, who served as Trump’s chief economic advisor during his first administration, delivered a sharply different assessment during an interview later Tuesday. He argued that the administration’s trade policy is raising prices and changing household purchasing decisions.

“Tariffs are a consumption tax on the U.S. consumer,” Cohn said.

The disagreement illustrated the political dilemma confronting Trump. His trade agenda is changing global commerce while adding costs for voters already focused on the price of everyday life.

Kevin Brady, a former Republican congressman who helped lead the B20 summit, said the previous trading order is unlikely to return. “President Trump has disrupted that system in a way that we’re not likely to return to,” Brady said during a discussion with U.S. Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark.

The political consequences were visible in the Nov. 3 election. Roughly two thirds of voters said Trump’s policies contributed to inflation, according to the CNBC Voter Poll, while nearly nine in 10 called the cost of living a major or crucial factor in their vote.

A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday found that 62% of Americans supported repealing Trump’s tariffs. Only 21% approved of his handling of the cost of living.

“Last week, American voters sent a clear message about the cost of living and their economic security,” Clark said in her keynote address.

Fresh inflation data added to the pressure Tuesday. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, exceeding economists’ expectations, while annual inflation reached 3.7% in September, the latest available annual figure and well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Tariffs are not the only force pushing prices higher. The war with Iran has driven energy costs sharply upward, while housing, healthcare and other household expenses continue to strain consumers.

Research nevertheless indicates that Trump’s import duties have contributed to the burden. A Federal Reserve Bank of New York study estimated that about 26% of tariff increases reached consumer prices, with some effects taking nine to 12 months to move through supply chains.

Cohn, now vice chairman of IBM, acknowledged that tariffs produce revenue for the United States. He argued, however, that those proceeds come directly at the expense of consumers buying affected goods.

“You’re looking at one side of the equation. You’re looking at the credit side of the balance sheet,” Cohn said, describing how he would respond to Trump’s defense of tariff revenue. “There’s the debit side of the balance sheet, which is every hardworking American who happened to pay the tariff through some product that they bought.”

Cohn still saw an opening for a bipartisan trade agreement. He suggested that Trump and the incoming Democratic Congress could make protections against China and unfair trade practices permanent while rolling back tariffs on Canada, leaving fewer measures for future presidents to reverse.

Businesses are already adjusting to the shift in global commerce. UPS CEO Carol Tomé said customers are moving production and sourcing closer to home as supply chains become increasingly regional.

“Supply chains are diversifying. Supply chains are regionalizing,” Tomé said during a panel discussion moderated by CNBC’s Morgan Brennan.

Separately, UPS is opening a new air hub in the Philippines in October with an investment exceeding $80 million. The project is intended to expand the company’s Asian network and improve connections across more than 1,100 global trade lanes.

Other executives continued to support Trump’s tariffs despite their costs. Jim Fitterling, executive chairman of chemicals giant Dow, acknowledged that tariffs can raise prices but argued that they are necessary to counter unfair competition and protect U.S. manufacturing.

Democrats plan to challenge the tariffs after taking control of Congress in January. Trump’s veto power and broad trade authority, however, could make the policies difficult for lawmakers to overturn.

DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.