After US President Donald Trump imposed high tariffs on all imports to promote “economic independence”, many American companies have started passing on the cost to customers by adding a “tariff surcharge” to bills, a move many economists have warned about. Several economists argued that the tariffs will not only weaken the country’s economic growth but will also raise the costs of products for American consumers. Trump has levied 10% base tariffs on all imports, in addition to reciprocal tariffs on nearly 60 countries or trading blocs that impose higher duties on US goods.
“Tariff surcharge line item,” wrote Reddit user “ProperMod” while sharing a screengrab showing a new “tariff surcharge” line item on his shopping bill from an e-commerce site.
He added that his wife’s friend paid a tariff surcharge when she bought summer clothes for her kids from Fabletics – a global active lifestyle brand: “I am sure this is going to be the new norm when buying.”
As per the screenshot, the bill’s subtotal was $564.60. After VIP savings of $175.00 and additional discounts of $21.98, a tariff surcharge of $44.09 was applied. The final amount payable came to $411.71. This means that the customer paid 7.8% of the bill as a tariff surcharge.
Tariff Surcharge Line Item
byu/ProperMod inAnticonsumption
One Reddit user responded to the post saying that they are in awe of the brand’s transparency: “I love it (not the tariff but the transparency). I hope nobody disguises this charge. This is a tax, and it should reflect as such.”
“It should be marked as a USA-imposed tariff. Otherwise, the MAGA consumer is going to think it’s tariffs imposed by other countries,” another suggested. One responded to this comment and joked, “I would label it ‘Trump Tariff’, or ‘TT’ for short.”
Yet another, who doesn’t favour Trump’s tariffs, said, “I’m glad they are making it a line item on the invoice. That way there is no doubt what’s going on. Hopefully, people will wake up.”
“I also think it was because it was cheaper/easier to add that than change the prices on everything, which would need to be changed next week when Trump does something different,” one Redditor explained.
Several others praised the companies for making it “painfully obvious” that “tariffs are paid by the consumers”.
“Good to see that actually. Not they we want to see price increases on everything but if they’re going to happen, tell everyone what’s causing it,” one social media user wrote.
The screengrab made its way to Twitter (now X), where one person tagged it as the “new norm in the Trump economy”. He even edited the screenshot to rename the line item as “Trump Tariff Surcharge”, saying he “fixed it” for the company.
Donald Trump, in his speech from the Rose Garden on April 2, said that Washington will charge each country at least half of what they charge. For example, the EU levies a 39% tariff on US goods, so the new duty on EU goods is 20%. Similarly, China, which levies a 67% tariff on the US, levies a 34% tariff.
India, which exports billions in goods to the US, is now facing a 26% tariff on all exports under the new rules.