Samuel Martin - Tariffs to Raise Cost of Rebuilding After Hurricane Florence

Tariffs to Raise Cost of Rebuilding After Hurricane Florence

Summary:
Because of the Trump Administration's decisions to increase tariffs to products from China and Canada, many of President Trump's voters are being negatively impacted after the effects of Hurricane Florence. These tariffs that were imposed include ones on gypsum, which is needed to make drywall, as well as lumber that is used in building family homes. After the water recedes from the coast, millions of people will need new houses, but contractors can't even afford to build affordable housing for people because of the price increases on many common building materials. Of the millions of homeowners in the Carolinas only 335,000 of them are covered under the National Flood Insurance Program, and those that can't afford the insurance are the ones most likely to need it. In the end, different contractors have different opinions on whether or not these tariffs are good or bad, but right now, they can have no helpful effect for the people of the Carolinas.

Analysis:
This article was written on Friday, September 21, 2018. This means that it is the most up-to-date information that we can get at this point, but that it is still subject to change, and that we don't have a final answer on how this will end. I had already known about these tariffs because they are part of the ongoing NAFTA deal, but I didn't realize that they would have such a negative effect on contracting companies in the United States. It is projected that new houses will cost between 7% and 10% more than normal, only because of these tariffs. These tariff deals are similar to when the British were imposing taxes on the United States colonies because most of the colonists didn't want these tariffs but others realized that these tariffs were paying for the war that they fought (or the cost to bring manufacturing back to the United States today.) This article was written for everybody in the United States, because it effects everyone here, but it is aimed at those who are impacted by Hurricane Florence because they are the first ones who will be negatively affected. This article was written by Nelson D. Schwartz, who has written for The Times for over 10 years, mainly focused on US economics. The author has covered economics for 8 years, so he saw how these tariffs are going to effect people before any other news source covered it. This article is important because now anytime that we want something that was made in China, we are going to have to pay more for it, just to try to move some manufacturing back to the United States.

Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/business/economy/tariffs-rebuilding-hurricane-florence.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront