Expert breaks down short term tariff impacts

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — The Trump Administration signed significant tariffs on major trade partners this week. The tariffs include a baseline 10% tariff on goods, and a 25% duty on foreign cars.

This week on Empire State Weekly, Sylvan Lane, a business editor at the news website The Hill, explained that the high tariffs were meant to boost domestic manufacturing and to bring jobs back to the U.S. Lane said that those positive changes may be far off, while painful short term impacts will be felt sooner.

"We're already seeing the stock market suffer its worst losses since 2020, " Lane said. "Now that doesn't, you know, have a huge impact on the whole economy in and of itself, but if you're somebody who is looking to retire soon, you're looking at potentially thousands of dollars less in retirement already. Over time, we might see this translate into higher prices or limited supply of certain goods abroad, the overall inflation rate could continue to go up."

Morgan Hook, a partner at Blue Jacket Strategies, spoke this week on the possible impacts of President Trump's decision to reverse the cabinet nomination for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. He explained the decision likely came down to Republican control of congress in Washington.

"This is one of the smallest margins for a majority in the history of Congress, at least in like a hundred years," Hook said. "And they clearly felt that the chances of a special election, even the chance that a Democrat could win a special election, would cut into that majority that they had even more."

Also this week, reporter Henry Rosoff with WPIX in New York City explained the impacts of Mayor Eric Adams' announcement to run for reelection as an independent.

To see these interviews and more, here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York: