President Trump’s Wednesday tariff announcement was larger in scope than many businesses and policy analysts were predicting, with the imposition of a 10 percent general tariff on imports to the U.S. and additional targeted tariffs on dozens of other countries.

The taxes on U.S. importers of foreign products are a major unilateral escalation of Trump’s trade war, though the White House has been describing them as “reciprocal” due to long-standing trade deficits run by the U.S. and higher tariffs in some countries.

The tariffs being imposed by Trump, which have a wide range of values, appear to be calculated directly from U.S. deficit levels with each country.

Here’s a look at what the practical effects of the tariffs could be for American workers and consumers, and some key questions.

First of all — will they last?

During his first 100 days in office, Trump has teased, issued and then reversed multiple tariff orders, often within just a few days, so there’s a strong possibility the large-scale Wednesday tariffs could be modified in short order, potentially as part of negotiations with different countries.

Administration officials say they’re already in the process of those talks.

“We're negotiating now. We move into some significant negotiations,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday on Fox Business Network.

Rollins gave a timeline of weeks or months to “renegotiate” the tariffs.

“The next few weeks, the next few months, we'll see as we continue to renegotiate the tariffs, and as we look to see what the impact will be,” she said.

The order could be canceled outright, as happened when Trump closed the so-called de minimis loophole, which put new tariffs on Chinese imports worth $800 or less and required them to be inspected by customs officers.

That policy change resulted in a million packages piling up at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and was canceled in a matter of days.

The order could also be reined in, as happened when Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports before exempting goods that were already covered under a preexisting trade deal, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

That said, the White House at times has also suggested the tariffs could be more permanent and are not meant to trigger a negotiation.

“This is not a negotiation, it’s a national emergency,” one White House official said on a call Wednesday explaining the tariffs.

Retail prices could go up

It’s likely that prices will rise if the tariffs remain in place.

Tariffs increase the costs of bringing goods to the market, and some portion of that cost........

© The Hill