Contextualizing the Inflationary Impact of the 10%/60% Trump Tariff Plan

I was trying to think about how to contextualize the impact of the Trump 10%/60% tariffs on inflation. McKibbin-Hogan-Noland (2024) trace out the impact of this measure (as well as mass deportation) on inflation using an updated version of the G-Cubed model. In 2025, they estimate inflation will be 0.6 percentage points above baseline. Goldman-Sachs also come up with similar implied effects (although in their scenario, they only assume a portion of the tariffs are implemented)

If I add the 0.6 ppts to September 2025 expected inflation (according to the U.Michigan survey), then, I obtain the following picture.

Figure 1: Year-on-Year CPI inflation (bold blue), UMich survey of consumer expectations (light blue square), UMich expectations plus 0.6 ppts (red triangle). Source: BLS via FRED, UMichigan, McKibbin-Hogan-Noland (2024), and author’s calculations.

Note that mass deportation of only (!) 1.3 mn net immigrants would lead to about 0.35 ppts higher inflation in 2025, 0.55 ppts by 2026. (The deportation on net of 8.3 million would lead to about 2.25 ppts higher inflation by 2025, and 3.5 ppts by 2026.)

My discussion of tariffs and cost of living on WPR the other day. More discussion at Main Street Agenda: Inflation in Milwaukee on October 15 (with my colleague J. Michael Collins and other panelists).

 

9 thoughts on “Contextualizing the Inflationary Impact of the 10%/60% Trump Tariff Plan

  1. Macroduck

    I suspect estimates of the inflationary cost of deportation fall short of reality. There would be supply and demand-side effects, of course. Correcy me if I’m wrong, but my suspicion is that supply-side estimates leave out the effect of the labor required to deport millions. I don’t have any feel for the manpower requirement, except that it would be big. One-to-one, maybe? That’s 1.3 million workers producing investigation, arrest, incarceration and deportation – none of which is in my consumption basket.

    Think the military can be called upon to handle it? Not legally:

    https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1385

    Besides, isn’t our military supposed to be doing the job it already has?

    1. Willie

      Inflation caused by mass deportations would hit things like food. The average person would notice pretty quickly.

  2. pgl

    Top of page 9:

    “Figures 15 and 16 compare US GDP and US inflation outcomes, respectively, under the two scenarios. In the 8.3 million deportation scenario, US GDP is 7.4 percent below baseline by 2028 (figure 15). Given that the baseline GDP growth is approximately 1.9 percent per year, this
    implies that the level of US GDP in 2028 is almost unchanged from that in 2024 –i.e., no economic growth occurs over the second Trump administration because of the negative effects of the deportation policy alone. Inflation is higher than otherwise through 2028 in both
    scenarios (figure 16). In the extreme scenario, inflation rises 3.5 percentage points by 2026, and the CPI price level is 9.6 percent higher by 2028, but inflation falls over time to baseline as the Fed eventually succeeds in taming price pressures.”

    Trump’s insane idea of kicking immigrants out would do massive damage to the US economy. But Bruce Hall would be happy as he would not have to live in a neighborhood with a couple of Hispanics! MAGA!

    1. pgl

      Says who? The moron who thinks 2 months of falling real GDP is a recession? The moron who thinks GDP/M2 is a constant? The idiot who makes up the dumbest explanation of the Real Business Cycle model ever written? Or the clown who think “suppression” is an economic concept?

      Listen clown – it would be nice if you READ their paper and articulated a coherent critique. But we know a moron like you could never understand what they wrote.

    2. Macroduck

      Oh please, something other than drive-by sneering.

      Or are you so tired of being exposed for poor analysis that drive-by sneering is all you’ll dare?

  3. pgl

    I’m hearing that the damage from Milton alone will be $50 billion. Between these two hurricanes, Florida and the other states will need lot of manpower to rebuild. Part of that manpower could be – and should be – legal immigrants.

    But the racist duo of Donald Trump and JD Vance want to deport over 8 million of these potential workers.

    Yea – the damage to our economy ala massive deportation will be immense.

    Of course little Princeton Stevie Koptis misses his time on Fox and Friends so he declares this to be “nonsense”. Why is it nonsense. Stevie has no clue but alas this clown will likely write a bunch of BS attempting to justify his sick comment.

  4. pgl

    Trump Rebrands Mass Deportation Plan, Bashes Harris Immigration Policies
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-rebrands-mass-deportation-plan-bashes-harris-immigration-policies/ar-AA1s7tMX?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=179abdf1f334451e94f7c01a82fa5306&ei=17

    Former President Donald Trump branded his mass deportation plan after the city where he promised the program would begin, Aurora, Colorado, at a rally on Friday. Appearing for the first time in one of the two cities where Trump said mass deportations of undocumented immigrants would begin if he wins in November, the GOP nominee said he was going to “solve this problem.” “I make this pledge and vow to you, November 5, 2024, will be liberation day in America,” Trump told supporters. “I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered.” As part of Operation Aurora, Trump said he would seek the death penalty for any undocumented migrant who killed an American citizen or law enforcement officer. “Elite squads” from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, as well as federal law enforcement officers, would be sent to find undocumented immigrants and then remove them from the country, Trump said.

    Herr Trump is inventing a problem as this notion that our cities are being “invaded” is nothing more than one of his racist lies. Operation Aurora? Does this moron think he is Eisenhower? Elite squads? Trump wants the US to become Germany under Hitler.

    Ah but Steven Koptis these criticisms are all nonsense while Bruce Hall looks forward to an all white neighborhood.

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