Trump's tariffs are aimed squarely at his own voters

China isn't going to pay for this.

The folks shopping at the Walmart are going to.

‘Catastrophic,’ ‘Cataclysmic’: Trump’s Tariff Threat Has Retailers Sounding Alarm

That includes the wife and me, by the way, though we weren't among the white geezers stupid enough or racist enough to vote for him.

We know lots who were, though.

The National Retail Federation estimates that China supplies 42 percent of all apparel, 73 percent of household appliances and 88 percent of toys sold in the United States.

The government has already imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. 

President Trump has said he will decide on whether to impose duties on the remaining $300 billion in imports but hasn’t set a firm deadline.

. . . .

In a letter last month, over 170 shoemakers and retailers called on Mr. Trump to halt the trade war with China, which supplies almost 70 percent of shoes sold in the United States.

The industry cannot easily return shoe production to the United States, because labor costs are much higher here and there is little capacity for new production, said Matt Priest, chief executive of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America.

. . . .

The impact will be greater on traditional retailers because they can’t adjust prices as quickly as online retailers, Mr. Cohen said. 

“This is going to cause more stores to close and more people to lose their jobs,” he added.

So far in 2019, American retailers have announced plans to shut more than 7,000 stores, after announcing nearly 6,000 closings last year, according to Coresight Research. 

Those numbers include liquidations of chains like Payless ShoeSource and Gymboree and store closings by healthier companies like Gap Inc. and Victoria’s Secret.

By the end of 2019, announced closings could climb to 12,000 stores, Coresight estimated.

The tariffs could also hurt the broader economy at a time when recession worries have moved to the forefront. 

The retail sector has shed 50,000 jobs since January.