With U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on Thursday of tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese imports nearly all goods from the country are set to be subject to U.S. import taxes, which Trump says will generate billions of dollars in revenue from China for the U.S. Treasury.
But that is not how tariffs work. China's government and companies in the country do not pay U.S. tariffs directly. Tariffs are a tax on imported products, and are paid by U.S.-registered firms to U.S. customs when goods enter the United States.
Importers often pass the costs of tariffs on to customers — manufacturers and consumers in the United States — by raising their prices. According to U.S. business executives and economists, American consumers foot much of the tariff bill.