09-02-2019, 09:18 AM
For those wondering if the tariffs will increase the costs of goods in Hawaii, that remains to be seen. So far, some items that have been subject to tariffs have actually gone down in price since the tariffs were enacted. The global economy is slowing and that has been driving the value of most of the currencies down except the dollar which has been inversely moving upwards by comparison. The Trade Wars are exacerbating the slowing economy and one of the odd side effects is that because our goods are priced in the world's reserve currency they are cheaper for us. So the trade imbalance has actually become worse for the USA since the tariffs were implemented and prices haven't appreciated in any meaningful way- without China purposely manipulating their currency any more than usual. They have a lot of cards to play yet. Both sides do.