On Sunday, the headline that major media should have used was, “Trump announces new 15% sales tax on US consumers.” Trump imposed that new national sales tax by announcing a 15% tariff on goods imported into the US from the EU.
Instead of highlighting the truth of Trump’s actions, major media were proclaiming that Trump had reached a “preliminary agreement” with the EU. See, e.g., NYTimes, U.S. Reaches Preliminary Trade Deal With Europe.
Like all of Trump’s alleged tariff “trade deals, this one is more like “concepts of a plan” than an actual agreement. In the NYTimes headline, “preliminary” means “not yet in writing or agreed to in final form.” As anyone with a passing knowledge of the law knows, when you haven’t reached an agreement, that is known as “not having an agreement.”
True, the President of the EU executive body, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed that the EU had agreed to a 15% tariff on its goods imported into the US. But beyond that major premise, the details matter—a lot. And many of those have yet to be determined.
See, e.g, statement by Ursula von der Leyen, which is filled with soft qualifiers that glide over the absence of details:
Today, we have also agreed on zero-for-zero tariffs on a number of strategic products. . . . [a]nd we will keep working to add more products to this list.
On steel and aluminium . . . . [w]e will work together to ensure fair global competition. And to reduce barriers between us, tariffs will be cut. And a quota system will be put in place.
Clear as mud! But it sounds so much fancier when Ursula von der Leyen says it than when Trump describes the proposed tariffs as “Tariffs like nobody has ever seen. People talk about tariffs. Nobody knew about tariffs until I invented the word.”1
Still, to the extent that Trump and the EU agreed to a 15% tariff on EU goods imported into the US, the real story is that the tariffs will not be paid “by the EU.” Tariffs are paid by the manufacturer who exports goods into the country imposing the tariff. It is an inescapable rule of economics that manufacturers include the cost of making, shipping, and selling products in the price charged to the ultimate consumer.
Tariffs are part of the “cost of goods sold,” and an item that the manufacturer recoups in the final sales price. No need to believe me. Just ask Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, who told Business Insider that “tariffs are a tax on imports, and businesses usually pass on their increased costs by charging higher prices to consumers.”
So, the real story on Sunday evening is that Trump’s promise to “lower prices on the first day” of his administration has morphed into a plan to impose a new sales tax on items imported from other countries because the US doesn’t manufacture enough of those items at competitive prices.
A reader sent a note over the weekend saying that she is making it her daily objective to educate people about how Trump’s tariffs are increasing prices. Reader Lisanne D. sent this article from CNBC, Trump tariffs affect Walmart prices. The article explains that
CNBC tracked prices of about 50 products across merchandise categories including apparel, electronics, toys and groceries over seven weeks at Walmart’s Secaucus, New Jersey, location.
The chart below summarizes the findings of CNBC’s price tracking:
CNBC, Trump tariffs affect Walmart prices
As CNBC notes, it is impossible to determine which products were affected by tariffs. However, Walmart announced in May that it would begin increasing prices in June to account for Trump’s tariffs. See Business Insider, (5/15/25) Walmart Warns in Earnings That Prices Will Go up Because of Tariffs.
So, here’s my point: Prices have already begun to increase because of tariff deals already in place. The EUis America’s largest trading partner. A 15% tariff on many European goods is effectively equivalent to a 15% sales tax on many goods purchased by US consumers.
Democrats are frequently criticized for having a “messaging” problem—which is true to a certain extent. However, when Trump imposes a 15% sales tax on US consumers and leading publications report on this fact as if it involves the foreign trade balance of payments, the media is giving Trump a free pass (or even suggesting that he is “accomplishing” something, which he is not).
If Biden had imposed a 15% tariff on goods imported from the EU, the legacy media would have run headlines like, “Biden’s tariffs hurt consumers, increase the price of eggs.” So, yes, we have a messaging problem. But that is because the legacy media parrot Trump’s talking points while criticizing everything Democrats do. That is why we must take messaging into our hands.
Did I mention that "Trump announces new 15% sales tax on US consumers”?
Tell a friend!
The Epstein child sex trafficking scandal
The Epstein child sex trafficking scandal remained in the news during the first weekend of Congress’s summer break. Grassroots activists continued their protests across the United States. Reader Susan M. sent me the photo below of a rally on the I-93 overpasses at the northern end of Franconia Notch, New Hampshire.
There are many commendable aspects of the rally, but the messaging is particularly effective: Justice for the victims, with a large American flag front and center. It is hard to argue with a message like that! The North County Resilience Visibility Brigade is striking while the iron is hot—at the beginning of the congressional recess, when the child sex trafficking scandal is still uppermost in voters’ minds. Keep up the good work!
As the major parties and the media struggle for the most effective way to talk about the Epstein child sex trafficking scandal, Rebecca Solnit republished her article from 2019 in The Literary Hub, In the Patriarchy No One Can Hear You Scream: Rebecca Solnit on Jeffrey Epstein and the Silencing Machine.
Solnit’s article makes a point that should remain top of mind every day until the last victim receives justice. The child sex trafficking ring remained in operation for decades (as an open secret) because of a culture of acceptance and permission that granted rich and powerful people the right to rape children without consequence.
Solnit writes,
Monsters rule over us, on behalf of monsters. . . . These men could not do what they did without a culture—lawyers, journalists, judges, friends—that protected them, valued them, and devalued their victims and survivors.
They do not act alone, and their might is nothing more or less than the way a system rewards and protects them, which is another definition of rape culture. That is, their impunity is not inherent; it’s something the society grants them and can take away.
The ongoing conspiracy to protect the identity of the perpetrators while attacking the victims as participants in a “hoax” can only happen when an entire culture of elite lawyers, journalists, judges, and billionaires conspires to protect the patriarchy. “Monsters rule over us, on behalf of monsters.”
The perpetuation of the “rape culture” that protects the rich and powerful was on display over the weekend as affluent, white male members of Congress took to the airwaves to claim that the “scandal” was a hoax created by Obama. Speaker Mike Johnson claimed that “It’s not in my lane” to prevent the grant of a pardon to Ghislaine Maxwell—an act that would be a grotesque miscarriage of justice.
Pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell on the false premise that the scandal is a “hoax” created by Obama would re-traumatize not only the victims but all American women. It would compound and reopen the wounds of Access Hollywood, Trump’s defense in the E. Jean Carroll case, and the Supreme Court’s decision in *Dobbs—*all of which are premised on the misogynistic notion that women are inherently unreliable, unable to be trusted with the truth or their own reproductive choices. The demotion of women to unreliable “second-class citizens" increases the potential for future abuse and exploitation.
The cruelty is the point. Trump is trying to turn the Epstein scandal into the next MAGA conspiracy theory, not only to save himself but to salve the wounded pride, bruised egos, and frustrated libidos of MAGA men. Trump is trying to turn his friendship with a pedophile into a political advantage—a prospect that should horrify every American of good faith and human decency.
The messaging of the North County Resilience Visibility Brigade in New Hampshire is spot on: Justice for the victims. By beginning every conversation about the scandal with the victims, we prevent it from devolving into a political scandal. Instead, it is a story about the rape of girls and a decades-long cover-up facilitated by some of the nation’s most prominent attorneys, politicians, judges, journalists, and billionaires.
Opportunity for Reader Engagement
From my friends at 31st Street Swing Left:
Help Win A Pivotal Special Senate Election in Iowa that would break the Republican Supermajority, and be a springboard to 2026!
31st Street Swing Left is raising crucial early money for this August 26 election. Catelin Drey is a super Dem Candidate - 39 years old with strong community ties in Sioux City, and founder of Mom’s for Iowa.
Her opponent is a little-known super MAGA supporter. Trump’s actions are hurting and unpopular in Iowa. Trump won this district by 11 points, but the same fired-up Iowa Democratic approach won a Trump+21 Special election in January!
The road to 2026 leads through Iowa, with a crucial US Senate, two competitive US House seats, and a Governor’s race. Winning this special election now will send a powerful message across the country.
31st Street Swing Left is an all-volunteer grassroots organizations dedicated to electing Democrats and preserving our democracy. DONATE TO CATELIN HERE
Concluding Thoughts.
During my Saturday live stream, I spoke about a constant source of frustration among grassroots activists: The absence of Democratic leaders who are rallying and organizing the party faithful into a cohesive and effective pro-democracy force.
As it is, grassroots activists are taking to the streets and organizing strike forces to elect Democrats in special elections. (See, e.g., the 31st Street Swing Left “Opportunity for Reader Engagement, above.) Democratic leadership appears to be on a separate track, focusing almost exclusively on serving as the opposition party in Congress. Party officials are busy raising money, and state officials are fighting rearguard actions to save funding for their states.
In my comments, I noted that being a good leader or member of the minority party in Congress is acceptable in normal times. But we are not living in normal times. Democracy itself is under attack. It is not enough to be a leader or member in Congress or the chair of a Democratic fundraising committee.
Like it or not, our elected officials and party representatives have been chosen to lead Democrats during one of the most perilous times in our nation’s history. They must not only fulfill their day-to-day responsibilities as leaders and members of Congress, but they must also serve as national leaders of the resistance.
The Democratic faithful and grassroots activists are yearning for leaders who will equal or exceed Trump’s ability to command the airwaves, attract attention, set the agenda, and control the political narrative. That job is much bigger than managing minority caucuses in the House or Senate, or raising money for the Democratic Party.
It is bigger than being a representative or senator who dutifully shows up to vote on bills, makes speeches from the floor of the House and Senate, and responds to constituent inquiries about problems with Social Security. It is bigger than being a governor, state legislator, or mayor.
The times call for elected Democratic officials to step outside their comfort zones, to step up to the forefront of the battle, to join the party faithful in the streets—and not just for a five-minute speech followed by a quick return to the Capitol or statehouse in a black SUV.
We need national leaders who will walk the walk with grassroots activists, who will call for the faithful to show up at a rally and then lead the march through the streets as a visible, engaged leader of the resistance. If you lead, we will follow.
I understand that some (many? most?) elected officials who ran for a seat in Congress, the statehouse, or on a fundraising committee did not sign up for the broader role as leader of the resistance. If stepping into a dual role at a time of national crisis is outside your comfort zone or beyond your capabilities, do the right thing and allow someone else to lead.
The times demand nothing less. Lead or get out of the way and let someone else take the lead. We will be forever grateful for your act of selflessness.
But it is not only congressional leaders, party officials, governors, and state legislators who must step outside of their comfort zones. We must do so as well. In the past, it was enough to show up to vote on Election Day. No more. We must step outside our comfort zone and become defenders of democracy, rallying others to vote, protesting injustice everywhere and anywhere, and raising our voices so loudly that they cannot be ignored.
Enough of us must rise to meet the moment to save our democracy—especially our congressional leaders and members of Congress. You are the natural leaders in this moment. Your country and constituents are begging you to lead the march. Seize the baton, hoist the flag, and clasp hands with your compatriots. We have been anxiously awaiting your arrival. You will be greeted with open arms and grateful support!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Daily Dose of Perspective
The Elephant Trunk Nebula is located 2,400 light years from Earth. The “elephant trunk” is a long cloud of interstellar gas and dust within a. much larger nebula of ionized gas.
This sentence is a joke that mimics Trump’s style of speaking, characterized by a mixture of hyperbole, delusions of grandeur, and profound ignorance of history and the English language. Trump didn’t speak the words in italics, but only because he was dozing during the press conference when a reporter asked him to discuss tariffs.
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