John,
In just over three months, working families have been hit with $14 billion in additional costs thanks to Trump’s revived tariff agenda.[1] That’s not a forecast. That’s not a theory. That’s a real, regressive tax you’re already paying, whether it’s at the grocery store, the gas pump, or on your kid’s school supplies.
This isn’t about protecting American jobs. It’s about forcing working people to pick up the tab so that billionaires and corporate elites can continue dodging their responsibilities. In fact, according to new Americans for Tax Fairness research, consumers are now paying a higher tax rate through tariffs than major corporations pay in federal income taxes:
Think about that. You’re being taxed more to buy household goods than ExxonMobil, Amazon, and the rest of Corporate America are taxed on their billions of dollars in profits.
We won’t let this stand without a fight. Please make a donation as we fight to expose the tariff scam and demand that billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.
And it’s only going to get worse. By the end of this year, Trump’s tariffs will amount to an 18% effective tax on all imported goods, a historic high not seen since the Great Depression. And for what? So Elon Musk can rake in another tax windfall and fellow billionaire Peter Thiel can bankroll Senate campaigns without ever paying taxes on winning investments?
Trump’s team isn’t just hitting you with a stealth tax. They’re also moving to gut healthcare, student aid, nutrition, and housing programs, all while pushing to lock in even more billionaire tax cuts.
This is redistribution, plain and simple: from the working- and middle-class straight to the top.
Help us sound the alarm, organize resistance, and stop this economic betrayal in its tracks. Chip in now to power our campaign and fight back against Trump’s billionaire-first agenda.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:
This is our moment to push back on Trump’s economic betrayal and build real power for working families.
John Foti
Legislative Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Trump’s Broad Tariffs Have Already Hit Households With $14 Billion Price Hike
-- David's email --
John,
Trump has been back in the White House for just over 100 days, and already his tax policies are hammering working families. We crunched the numbers.
According to new Americans for Tax Fairness research, in just the first quarter of 2025, Trump’s across-the-board tariffs have added $14 billion in extra costs for American consumers, a staggering 17% increase over the same period last year.[1]
These are not targeted tariffs meant to protect jobs or penalize foreign bad actors. These are broad, blanket taxes on everything from groceries and clothing to electronics and home goods. And they hit everyone, regardless of income. According to the Yale Budget Lab, by the end of this year, Trump’s trade policy will result in an effective 18% tax rate on all imports, the highest in nearly 100 years.[2]
Consumers often change their buying patterns when faced with higher prices. But, without accounting for potential behavioral changes, that tax rate jumps to 28%, a burden heavier than anything seen since 1901.
So, who’s actually paying the price for Trump’s tariffs? Working people, not the wealthy. Households in the bottom 60% of income earners―who only get one-fifth of national income―will pay one-third of all tariff costs. Meanwhile, households making over $940,000 a year—the ones Trump really cares about—will pay just one-tenth. It’s a regressive tax in the truest sense, a cash grab that redistributes income upward from working families to billionaire donors.
Instead of taxing the untaxed billions hoarded by Elon Musk and his cronies, Trump’s policies are increasing the cost of living for everyone else. It’s no coincidence: this tariff tax is just one prong of a larger strategy to take away public services and funnel more wealth to the top.
We cannot let this continue. With your help, we can fight back and expose this scam for what it is. Help us fight the billionaire-first agenda. Chip in today to power our research and activism and stop Trump’s tariff tax.
Tariffs were sold as a tool to protect American jobs. But in Trump’s hands, they’ve become a tax hike on the middle class. Worse, they’re being paired with a renewed push to slash Medicaid, SNAP, and student aid, while expanding the 2017 Trump tax cuts that already sent trillions to the rich.
Billionaires pay zero taxes on their biggest source of income, the rising value of investments they don’t sell. Consumers are now paying a higher effective tax rate through tariffs than many corporations pay in federal income tax. The whole system is upside down. And it’s by design. It’s no surprise that Trump’s tax and tariff agenda creates a tax cut for the richest 5% of Americans and a tax increase for all other income groups.[3]
We’re working day and night to mobilize against Trump’s economic war on working people, but we need your support to keep up the fight. Every dollar helps us engage the press, organize on the ground, and tell the truth.
This is a calculated attack on working families to protect billionaire wealth. Chip in now to help us take down Trump’s tariff scam, expose the truth about who’s really paying the price, and power our fight for a tax system that works for all of us.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:
Together, we’re calling out this rigged system, organizing against Trump’s billionaire tax agenda, and demanding a fairer economy for all.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Trump’s Broad Tariffs Have Already Hit Households With $14 Billion Price Hike
[2] State of U.S. Tariffs: April 15, 2025
[3] A Distributional Analysis of Donald Trump’s Tax Plan
