By Scott Peters

After months of threats and flip-flopping, President Trump instituted his across-the-board tariffs, including on our neighbors and allies. Whether you support Trump’s agenda or not, everyone in San Diego should understand that tariffs will increase our cost of living, threaten our region’s economy, and complicate our ability to work with Mexico to address pressing challenges such as cross-border sewage and the efficient flow of traffic through our ports of entry.

President Trump believes tariffs can be a powerful policy tool to protect America from becoming what he calls a “sucker nation” that gets taken advantage of by other countries. He has even labeled himself a “Tariff Man.” Yet his affinity for tariffs remains, at best, puzzling. It represents a worldview wherein America is weak and bullied, as well as a conscious policy choice to increase the cost of living for all Americans.

A tariff is a tax levied on imported goods and services and paid for by importers. Trump says foreign countries pay these taxes. They do not. American companies and the American people pay for them. San Diego importers pay them. San Diegans will see the cost of imported goods skyrocket as tariffs of up to 50 percent take effect. A leading trade organization estimates that they could cost households in San Diego and throughout the country as much as $7,600 per year.

You don’t need to take my word to understand the threat of Trump’s tariffs; we already know from experience. In 2018, President Trump instituted tariffs on Chinese goods. American consumers, not China, paid the cost for that decision to the tune of over $4 billion a month, by some estimates. And the free-falling stock market cratering people’s life savings is already painting a damning image of what is to come.

Even prominent Republicans, such as Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, agree that Trump’s recent tariff dalliance would drive up costs and hurt American consumers. This basic conclusion is why San Diego’s business community reacted swiftly when the president initially announced his tariffs. The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce publicly implored the president to reconsider, stating, “[The tariffs] will have significantly damaging effects on our region’s cross-border economy and the economy of the U.S. as a whole. … Taxing imports is a tax on American businesses and U.S. customers.”

The president has other options, however. He could productively engage with our trading partners around the world instead of pursuing unilateral action. When Trump last occupied the Oval Office, his administration negotiated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which led to a 50% increase in trade throughout North America and a 136% increase in new business investment. USMCA also delivered over $400 million in cross-border infrastructure investments needed to reduce the flow of sewage from Tijuana into San Diego. President Trump could once again choose to secure fixes from Mexico on any number of problems, ranging from cross-border sewage flows and fentanyl smuggling to border security, when the U.S., Mexico, and Canada must renegotiate USMCA in 2026.

So why does the president support tariffs? Because he is the self-labeled Tariff Man, aka the Raise Your Costs Man. He campaigned on lowering prices, but his actions so far will raise your costs, not lower them. He actively subverts Congress’ ability to fund our communities, challenges our Constitution and empowers his donors to dismantle our government for personal gain.

I’m a proud free trade Democrat because I understand the benefits of trade for San Diego and our country. I know free trade can lower prices and support our economy. The Tariff Man, however, only believes in wielding power against those — foreign countries, voters and his political opponents — he deems suckers. Unfortunately, this would leave San Diego as the sucker paying the price for Trump’s recklessness.

Peters, a Democrat, is a former environmental attorney who represents California’s 50th Congressional District. He lives in Bird Rock.