A year ago today, the president pulled out a chart in the now paved-over Rose Garden and set the global economy on fire. He announced his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, which then changed a bunch of times before being deemed illegal by the Supreme Court earlier this year. Justine Kahn, the founder and CEO of Botnia, a skincare company based in California, has been dealing with pricier essential oils from France, packaging from Spain and herbs from Tibet.
“And so what used to cost, you know, if we placed a $10,000 order, now costs us $15,000, and so that has really impacted our business,” she said. The broader economic impact on the economy, “it's thankfully not been an utter disaster,” said the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Ryan Young with a bit of a sigh. “Because the enacted tariff rates were roughly half of what the president threatened at the Rose Garden press conference, but it's still been pretty bad.”
Pretty bad in terms of higher prices for businesses and consumers across many sectors, bruised relations with our allies, and very few, if any, of the economic benefits the Trump administration promised.
But one industry has seen a boost, said Scott Lincicome at the Cato Institute. “The offer of exemptions and the prospect of new tariff protection has led to a dramatic rise in lobbying on trade in Washington,” he said. A sixfold increase, Lincicome said, as just about every industry affected by tariffs looks for a way to get out of paying them. | 
