It’s probably actually going to get worse.
I’ve heard a lot of people celebrating Donald Trump’s win this November as a harbinger of things like lower gas prices. Many voters have stated that their support for Trump comes from the belief that he will fix the economy. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.
Trump’s economic plan is based on tariffs, slashing regulations, and cutting taxes. However, it’s most likely that none of these things are going to result in lower prices for consumers.
Trump has proposed high tariffs on imported goods, especially from China. But the importer pays the tariff, not the exporter, so this will make costs high for the companies purchasing goods from China – and in turn raise prices for the consumer. There is also a high likelihood that countries like China will impose retaliatory tariffs in response, all of which will drive up end prices. This would also harm American exporters, especially farmers like those who make up most of ND’s production. When Trump imposed tariffs on China during his 2016 presidency, this is exactly what happened. Soybean farmers were hit especially hard, because China is the number one consumer of American soybeans. As of last year, soybean farming made up over 6 million acres of North Dakota’s land, with the value of production in dollars over 2 billion dollars – more than any other crop. (USDA 2023 State Agriculture Review) Genetic research for optimizing soybean yield is also one of the primary focuses of NDSU’s agricultural work and research. Not only does North Dakota rely on this crop, but our school does, too.
The Trump administration’s plan for lowering housing costs currently consists of cutting as many manufacturing regulations as possible, making the cost of building a house lower for the actual construction company. This has a couple problems. First, there’s no reason to believe manufacturers will reflect this drop in cost with a drop in consumer prices. It would be in their best interests to build things cheaply and charge the same as before, increasing their profits considerably. In addition, regulations exist for a reason. Cutting regulations will not make the cost of housing go down. Instead, it will create a large amount of poorly constructed, unsafe structures built by workers who are forced to endure unsafe conditions. Project 2025 plans to undermine workers’ protections, like labor unions and OSHA. This would affect workers, making it easier for employers to put them in danger, compensate them unfairly, and take no responsibility for things like workplace injury.
Finally, the tax cuts that have been proposed will mostly benefit – you guessed it – those who are already rich. Trump has called for reducing the corporate tax rate to 15% for some companies, after lowering it from 35% to 21% in 2017 with the controversial Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. An end to taxes on tips, Social Security benefits, and overtime pay has also been promised, but no plan was put forth to make up the enormous loss in funding that this would cost the Social Security Administration. This would lead to lower payments for workers after retirement, and, if not replaced, the loss of revenue from these cuts could lead to a 30% drop in benefits, according to CNN. Trump has mentioned making up this money with revenue from tariffs, but the likelihood of his proposed tariff plan actually making money is extremely low.
I know this article has a little bit of a we’re-all-doomed vibe, which I don’t think is true. None of these things have been put in place as of right now, and other aspects of Trump’s economic plan may work just fine. However, these are the plans that have been put forth as of right now and, I hate to break it to you, but North Dakota did not vote in the best interest of its workers or farmers by voting red.