By Josh Israel for the Virginia Independent.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs raised costs for American households by an average of $1,000 in 2025, according to a study by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation released on Feb. 6. If the tariffs remain in place this year, they are expected to cost households another $1,300 in 2026.
“The Trump tariffs are the largest US tax increase as a percent of GDP (0.54 percent for 2026) since 1993,” the study’s authors noted. “Historical evidence and recent studies show that tariffs are taxes that raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for US businesses and consumers, resulting in lower income, reduced employment, and lower economic output.”
House Republicans have repeatedly blocked efforts by congressional Democrats to overturn Trump’s tariff policies.
Trump ran for president in 2024 on a promise to immediately lower costs for consumers and end inflation. Immediately after his inauguration, he began threatening to impose tariffs on foreign goods and services. In early April, he imposed a 10% tariff on goods imported from nearly every country as well as additional tariffs on goods from certain countries, declaring that “foreign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency” and that tariffs were needed to respond. Consumer prices have continued to rise during Trump’s second term.
“America’s average tariff rate has increased by nearly sevenfold in the past year — while inflation has actually cooled, real wages have risen, GDP growth has accelerated, and trillions in investments continue pouring in to make and hire in America,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in an emailed statement. “Panicans need to come to terms with the fact that President Trump continues to be proven right on tariffs.” The term panican is a term coined by Trump for people who disagree with his tariffs.
Virginia business owners say they are feeling strain caused by tariffs.
“Tariffs on imported rugs aren’t an abstract economic policy; they’re a real cost that shows up immediately for small, values-driven businesses like Wool + Loom,” Sabrina Mattin, owner of Wool + Loom, a handmade rug shop in Fairfax County, told the Virginia Independent in a text. “As tariffs increase, the landed cost of ethically sourced, handwoven rugs rises sharply, squeezing already thin margins and forcing difficult decisions about pricing, inventory, and how much we can order from our artisan partners. Many of the women we work with rely on consistent orders for stable income, and when costs rise suddenly, those livelihoods are directly affected. Our customers want to support ethical supply chains, but with higher everyday costs and economic uncertainty, affordability matters.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the legality of some of Trump’s tariffs. Congress has the power to reject them by passing legislation to declare an end to the national emergency and thus cancel the tariffs, but House Republicans passed a rule last April to temporarily block any votes on measures to end Trump’s tariffs. After renewing that block in September 2025, GOP leaders attempted on Feb. 10 to extend it again through July 31, 2026. The rule failed narrowly, 214-217, after three Republicans joined all 214 Democrats in voting no. Every Virginia Republican member of the House voted for the block.
In a statement provided by the advocacy group Affordable Virginia, Virginia Beach resident Bernita Richardson criticized Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, who represents Richardson’s district, for voting for the measure.
“As the primary caretaker for my son and my aging parents, I’m also the house manager, making sure we can stay within an already slim budget. My son has special needs, and my parents require 24/7 care, and we live on a fixed income. There’s no room for extras, and lately it seems like I keep making cuts to my budget while billionaires continue to get cuts to their taxes,” Richardson said. “I wish my representative would stand up for families like mine so that we don’t have to squeeze blood from a stone.”
Kiggans’ office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
A Summer 2025 Commonwealth Poll sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University found that 30% of Virginia voters thought Trump’s tariffs would strengthen the U.S. economy over the next few months; 61% said they would weaken it.
With the GOP leaders’ rule against voting to end Trump’s tariffs now expired, House Democrats reportedly plan to force several votes on bills to repeal them. If they pass in the House and Senate, Trump is likely to veto them. Democrats would need a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override Trump’s veto, making a tariff repeal unlikely.
Josh Israel wrote this story for the Virginia Independent.
Related: Sen. Warner Warns Trumps’ Tariffs will Increase Costs for ALL Virginians
