Tariffs will cost families nearly $5k per year, Kentucky governor says
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HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) — Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is raising alarm bells over tariffs under consideration by the Trump administration, saying they’ll end up costing American families thousands of dollars.

Beshear, in a message posted on social media, said the tariffs would cost an average family an extra $4,700 a year.

“That’s months upon months upon months of groceries. That’s months upon months of rent. That might be your entire annual deductible if you’ve got private health insurance coverage,” he said. “No family will be able to get through that without being severely impacted and for those that are struggling to pay bills at the end of the month, it’s enough to put you under.”

The $4,700 estimate comes from a recent analysis by The Budget Lab at Yale University. The analysts found if Trump’s proposal to tax nearly all imports an extra 10% goes into place, there would be “an average per household consumer loss of $4,700.”

A different analysis, put forward by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, estimates the cost to a middle-class household would be more like $1,700. Both analyses agree that low-income households would be hardest hit.

Consumers in need of big-ticket items like a new car or smartphone could find themselves with major sticker shock.

Bank of America estimates that the new duties could raise car prices an average of $4,500, even assuming that automakers absorb some of the tariffs’ impact. Such an increase would follow sharp price hikes of the past few years that have left the average price of a new car at a painful $48,000.

If the tariffs hold, Apple is widely expected to raise the prices on iPhones and other popular products because the company’s supply chain is so heavily concentrated in China. The iPhone 16 Pro Max could see its price potentially increase by 29%. That could raise the starting price from $1,200 to $1,550, according to an estimate from UBS’s chief investment office.

Daily necessities like food and clothing would also grow pricier.

Economists fear a trade war would substantially slow global trade and could trigger a recession, creating even more economic fallout.

The sweeping tariffs were set to take effect, but were put on a 90-day hold last week. Other tariffs, such as those on Chinese-made goods, remain in place.

President Donald Trump’s administration hopes the tariffs will bring jobs back to American soil. Administration officials have at times acknowledged the prospect of higher prices from the tariffs.

In a speech last month to the Economic Club of New York, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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