American consumers and businesses are taking most of the hit from President Donald Trump's tariffs, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said Tuesday in remarks that counter White House claims.
"The tariffs have overwhelmingly been borne domestically — a New York Fed analysis estimates that most of the burden has fallen on U.S. firms and consumers.," Williams said in remarks for a conference in Washington, D.C. "In addition, the tariffs have already meaningfully increased U.S. prices of imported goods, and the full effects have likely not yet been felt."
The study Williams cited has generated a fair amount of controversy over the past few weeks.
In a white paper published on the New York Fed's website, a team of researchers found that as much as 90% of the added cost from tariffs has been passed on to domestic producers and consumers. Trump and other White House officials had insisted that exporters would absorb the costs rather than raise prices.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett flamed the controversy during a CNBC appearance in which he suggested that the researchers should be "disciplined" for what he termed was "the worst paper I've ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve system." Hassett later stepped back the criticism.
