When I was early in my money journey, I felt like I had to do money rehab all alone. But on your road to financial independence, you have me and Chime. We've all hit a point where we realized it was time to do some money rehab. Take control of your finances by using a Chime checking account with features like no maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at chime. Com/mnn. And when you do check out Chime, you'll see that Chime is making finance overall feel less lonely. And one of the ways they're doing that is by allowing eligible members to give complementary boosts to increase a friend's SpotMe limit. That means you can help increase your friend's fee-free overdraft limits, and vice versa. This, we're all in this together spirit, is how our financial world should work. And Chime agrees. Make your fall finances a little greener by working toward your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in two minutes at chime. Com/mnn. That's chime. Com/mnn. Chime. It feels like progress. Banking services and debit are provided by the Bank Corp. Na or Stride Bank NA.

Members FDIC. Spotme eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boots are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to chime. Com/disclosures for details. Bye, Hello, so high. It is such a simple concept, but not necessarily an easy concept. Right now, high interest rates have crushed the real estate market. Prices are falling and properties are available at a discount, which means that Fundrise believes believes now is the time to expand the Fundrise Flagship Fund's billion-dollar real estate portfolio. You can add the Fundrise Flagship Fund to your portfolio in just minutes and with as little as $10 by visiting fundrise. Com/moneyrehab. That's F-U-N-D-R-I-S-E. Com/moneyrehab. Carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the fund's prospectus at fundrise. Com/flagship. This is a paid advertisement. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. You watched the debate last week, right? Well, if you did, you saw the topic the moderators kicked off was the economy. The issue they said was ranked number one for voters.

I mean, we could have called that, right? Inflation is coming down, which is great news, but there are still recession fears swirling, so we, the people, want to make sure the next President of the United States can steer this economy in a good direction. As the election heats up and it's already getting pretty hot. I'm going to be breaking down some of the key economic issues and the different platforms formulated by the nominees. Today and tomorrow, I'm going to unpack a buzzy proposal from each candidate. And you know that I do not shy away from sharing my own views. But for these episodes, I am going to stay non-partisan. I'm going to cut through the political sideshow so that you can have just the facts on how you and your wallet would be affected by either candidate. I'm going to start with Trump. Today, I'm going to be talking about a major component of his economic platform that he highlighted in the debate: Tariffs. Tomorrow, I'm going to talk about Kamala Harris's controversial price-gouging ban. But first, let's start with the Trump Tariffs. In the campaign for his second term, Trump has proposed new tariffs on Chinese imports, which he said will be set anywhere from 10 % to 60 %.

When we think about how we might be affected by this policy, we actually have the benefit of hindsight here because Trump imposed a lot of tariffs during his first term. So let's take a look at what he did and how those tariffs affected the economy and individual Americans. The big picture you need to know is that a tariff is a tax that a government places on imports or exports. So when a country imposes tariffs, it increases the cost of goods coming into the country. Typically, the importer will normally pay the tariffs. So let me just make up an example here. If there's a 25 % tariff on steel from Canada, when a US-based company imports steel from Canada, that American company will have to pay the tariff. The idea is that if you make foreign products more expensive, domestic products will be used instead. And then, hopefully, domestic jobs and industries will be protected by making foreign competitors less attractive in terms of price. So even it's the company that's taxed, most companies don't just eat that cost themselves. Instead, they pass it on to us, the consumers, in the form of higher prices. So in the example I just made up about steel imports, if there's a 25 % tariff on steel from Canada, companies will likely raise the price of products that they make with that steal, like cars or appliances, to cover that extra expense.

That means American consumers, you and me, end up paying more for the goods we buy. The tariff cost is essentially passed all the way down the supply chain, and that's why tariffs can affect the overall economy by making everything from raw materials to finished products more expensive. Sometimes companies also absorb part of that tariff cost to stay competitive, but over time, higher tariffs often lead to higher prices at checkout. Okay, now let's talk about Trump. When he was President, one of his key economic strategies was to impose tariffs, particularly on China. He argued that the US was getting a raw deal in trade with other countries, particularly China, and that foreign competition was harming American businesses. His goal was to bring back jobs to industries like steel and aluminum and to reduce the US trade deficit. By the way, a trade deficit is when a country imports more than it exports. During his presidency, Trump imposed over $80 billion worth of tariffs. While China was his key target, he also zeroed in on steel and aluminum, and those tariffs were practically global. In March of 2018, Trump slapped a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports from almost every country in the world, including very close allies like Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.

So why is Trump so obsessed with steel? Well, he wanted to protect the American steel and aluminum industries from cheaper imports, which are making it harder for US companies to compete. He even brought up national security as part of his justification, saying that having strong domestic steel and aluminum production was crucial to a country's defense. But more broadly, steel is just a big deal in the US. America was built literally and metaphorically on steel, so it symbolizes American industry. Plus, steel has a powerful union behind it. And steel is a big industry in Pennsylvania, specifically, which is famously a crucial swing state. But the steel tariffs led to a lot of friction with US allies. And in some cases, those countries hit back with their own retaliatory tariffs on American goods. For instance, Canada placed tariffs on US exports like ketchup, coffee, and dairy products, which was devastating news for any of those breakfast is the most important meal of the day people. But back to China. The result of Trump's tariff strategy was what became known as the US-China Trade War. Trump hit China with tariffs on over $360 billion worth of goods. These tariffs came in several waves starting in 2018, and then again were designed to punish China for what Trump claimed were unfair trade practices, specifically intellectual property theft and forcing US companies to share their tech when they did business in China.

Here's how it worked. The US imposed tariffs starting at 10% and going up to 25% on a wide range of Chinese imports on technology, like smartphones and electronics, machinery and industrial goods, and consumer goods, like furniture and clothing. Generally, the big risk of imposing tariffs is retaliation, and that's That's exactly what China did. China slapped tariffs on $110 billion worth of American products, including, very specifically, cars, pork, whiskey, and strawberries, which hit US farmers particularly hard. But who Who is the big winner of this trade war anyway? Did Trump's tariffs actually work? Well, first of all, it's worth noting that Biden did keep a lot of Trump's tariffs in place, but Biden was also dealing with a very different economy post-COVID than Trump was. Anyway, most Most economists argue that Trump's tariffs had a mixed, if not negative, effect on the US economy. Let's recap the three major goals of these tariffs, which again were number one, protection for domestic companies and consumers, number two, safeguarding domestic jobs, and number three, a lower trade deficit. Let's start with American businesses and consumers. The tariffs increased costs for businesses that rely on imported materials, so a lot of US manufacturers depend on foreign steel and aluminum, and the tariffs meant that they had to pay higher prices for those materials.

Those higher costs were then often passed on to the consumers. And remember when I mentioned how hard farmers were hit because of the soybean tariffs? Who knew that soy beans played such an important role in our economy? But they due. In fact, the US government had to bail out farmers to the tune of $28 billion in 2018 and 2019 to help offset their losses. In the face of higher costs for businesses, consumers definitely felt the squeeze. The tariffs caused price bumps in things like electronics, cars, and even everyday goods like clothing went up. Studies show that American households ended up paying about $1,300 more as a result of tariffs, which definitely did not help inflation. Now, let's talk about jobs. One of Trump's key promises was to protect American jobs, especially in manufacturing. But did that happen? In the steel industry, there was a slight increase in jobs at first, but it wasn't nearly enough to offset the jobs lost in other industries affected by higher materials costs. In the steel industry, there was a slight increase in jobs at first, but it wasn't nearly enough to offset the jobs lost in other industries affected by higher materials costs.

Studies estimate that the tariffs caused a net loss of jobs because while the tariffs did help a small number of industries, they hurt many others. One specific study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that for every job saved in steel production, about 16 jobs were lost in industries that use steel. And as for the US Trade Deficit, the US Trade Deficit with China actually hit record highs during the tariff wars. Why did this happen? Well, it was twofold. First, terrifs didn't reduce demand. Americans still bought Chinese goods despite higher prices because there weren't always cheaper alternatives. And second, the retaliation. China and other countries retaliated with tariffs on American goods, which hurt US exports and actually widened the trade deficit. So did Trump's tariffs achieve their goals? Not exactly. While they were meant to protect American industries and reduced the trade deficit, they ended up raising costs for businesses and consumers, hurt American farmers, and didn't significantly bring back jobs in the industries they were supposed to protect. That said, the tariffs did force a conversation about trade imbalances, especially with China. And while the US-China Trade War didn't solve all the problems Trump wanted it to, it did lead to new trade negotiations, including the phase one trade deal signed in 2020, where China agreed to buy more American products.

But even that didn't fully offset the damage from the tariffs. And looking ahead to November and beyond, economists are predicting that the cost-benefit analysis of the tariffs Trump is now proposing would have a similar over-indexing in cost. Moody's chief economist told CNN that the proposed tariffs would likely push America into a recession and would result in roughly 675,000 jobs lost. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. Make sure your loved ones are registered to vote. I know we get this message beat into our heads at least every four years. But remember, anyone under the age of 21 probably hasn't voted in a presidential election yet. So if you fall into that age group, or if you have kids or loved ones who do, give them a gentle reminder to register to vote and send them the link in my bio. I mean, hello. If future Madam President, Taylor Swift, is telling us to do so, why wouldn't we? Professional investors like Ray Dalio and Warren Buffett are in agreement. Bonds are an important part of a healthy financial diet. And the legit only place I buy bonds, this is 100% true, you can totally check my account, is public.

The modern brokerage for investors to build an awesome multi-asset portfolio. And a quick moment of humility here. I have been trying to work with Public for years now and low-key stock them because I am such an avid public user, and every other app or site I've tried to buy bonds on has actually made me want to rip my hair out. Public is so easy to use and has thousands of bonds to choose from, and not just US Treasuries, but corporate bonds too, like for the Magnificent Seven stocks like Apple, Meta, and NVIDIA. And you can use Public for more than your bond investments. On Public, you can find all all other major financial food groups, stocks, ETFs, high-yield cash accounts, options, and even music royalties. If you're looking for a simple yet sophisticated investing experience, go to public. Com/moneyrehab. One more time, because trust me, you will thank me. It is public. Com/moneyrehab. This is a paid endorsement for public investing. Full disclosures and conditions can be found in the podcast description. Bilo, so high. It is such a simple concept, but not necessarily an easy concept. Right now, high interest rates have crushed the real estate market.

Prices are falling and properties are available at a discount, which means that Fundrise believes now is the time to expand the Fundrise flagship fund's billion-dollar real estate portfolio. You can add the Fundrise Flagship Fund to your portfolio in just minutes and with as little as $10 by visiting fundrise. Com/moneyrehab. That's F-U-N-D-R-I-S-E. Com/moneyrehab. Carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the fund's prospectus at fundrise. Com/flagship. This is a paid advertisement. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan LaVoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your moneyquestions, moneyrehab@moneynewsnetwork. Com, to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram @moneynews, and TikTok @moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.