Trump’s tariffs hit his blue-collar backers where it hurts

The blue-collar workers who cheered all the way to the ballot box in 2024 before voting Donald Trump into the Oval Office again are feeling some pain from their favorite troll’s tariffs. 

A quarterly earnings report by Home Depot revealed the building supply giant will be raising its prices on select items to mitigate the president’s geopolitical temper tantrum. 

“For some imported goods, tariff rates are significantly higher today than they were at this time last quarter,” Home Depot’s CFO Richard McPhail said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. 

“So as you would expect, there will be modest price movement in some categories, but it won’t be broad based,” he said.

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But that’s not all. 

Even John Deere, the company that is both a billion-dollar farm equipment maker and a cultural icon among the working class, has axed more than 200 employees in the name of cutting higher costs caused by Trump’s big, beautiful tariffs. 

“As stated on our most recent earnings call, the struggling ag economy continues to impact orders for John Deere equipment,” the company said in a statement obtained by Illinois Public Media. 

“This is a challenging time for many farmers, growers and producers, and directly impacts our business in the near term,” the statement concluded.

While these two companies serve as icons for blue-collar Americans, the U.S. as a whole is starting to feel the heat. Smaller businesses and larger corporations alike are adjusting to Trump’s changes, and while many see this as a concern, Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro thinks differently. 

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“Are tariffs price hikes or tax cuts?” he asked on CNBC last week. “I say they're tax cuts.” 

This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case—no matter how many times the convicted felon says it on air. 

As Daily Kos previously reported, Trump’s latest sweeping tariffs took effect on Aug. 7 after a short-lived rollout in April.  

Countries like China were hit with a 30% tariff while neighboring countries Mexico and Canada have 25% and 35% tariff rates, respectively. 

Despite the price hikes and layoffs, MAGA supporters were convinced by Trump that a little economic turmoil for the middle and lower classes, who are more negatively affected by rising prices, is a good thing in the long run. 

We shall see how that works out for them.

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