White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that the United States will maintain a 10% baseline tariff on imports from all countries, a policy that will persist even as the administration negotiates new trade deals.
“The president is committed to the 10% baseline tariff, not just for the United Kingdom, but for his trade negotiations with all other countries as well,” Leavitt said during a press conference.
The 10% universal tariff, part of President Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” trade agenda, marks a dramatic shift in U.S. trade policy. Prior to this move, the average U.S. tariff was about 2.5%, meaning the new baseline is four times higher than previous norms.
The 10% tariff is expected to raise the cost of imported goods, with most economists agreeing that businesses will pass a significant portion of these costs on to consumers. Estimates suggest that personal consumption expenditures (PCE) prices could rise by 1–1.5% this year, potentially pushing real disposable income growth into negative territory and risking a contraction in consumer spending.
Sectors heavily reliant on imports, such as automobiles and electronics, will see particularly sharp price increases. For example, U.S. light vehicle prices could rise by as much as 11.4% if automakers pass on the full cost of tariffs to buyers.
During recent interviews and public appearances, Trump has downplayed concerns about the impact of tariffs on everyday consumer products-especially toys and school supplies.
Under Trump’s leadership, getting dolls, especially those made by Mattel will be more expensive.
Mattel announced it would raise prices in the U.S. to offset the impact of tariffs on Chinese imports, rather than shift manufacturing to the U.S. Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz Kreiz explained that while much of Mattel’s design and development takes place in America, manufacturing overseas allows the company to keep toys affordable for consumers.
In reference to Mattel announcement, Trump said, “They they also said… they’re the only country I’ve heard they said, “Well we’re going to go counter. We’re going to try going someplace else.” That’s OK. Let him go and he’ll have… we’ll put a 100% tariff on his toys and he won’t sell one toy in the United States and that’s their biggest market. I heard that… I mean, I watched this guy talking about how “I’m gonna go counter.” I said, “Well I wouldn’t want to have him as an executive too long.”
During his recent interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” President Donald Trump defended his tariff policy by referencing the number of toys and school supplies American children have, saying, “I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs – that’s 11 years old – needs to have 30 dolls,” Trump told host Kristen Welker. “I think they can have three dolls or four dolls because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable. We had a trade deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars with China.”
Trump went on to suggest that children could also get by with fewer basic school supplies. When asked whether Americans should expect to see empty store shelves in the future, Trump replied, “No, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five”.
