In continuing coverage on the Canada, Mexico, and China tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, News 8 spoke to a financial expert for the impacts not only occurring on Wall Street, but also the potential changes to your day-to-day expenses.
The stock market took a significant tumble Tuesday morning, hours after the tariffs took effect.
“There always has to be patience when it comes to investing. What’s really hard about this timeline is we have some dates and ideas, but is this a negotiation tactic? Will these go in place? If and when they do – how long will they be in place for? Will we see the percentage of tariffs into the future if we don’t see results?” said Ethan Wade, chief development officer for Brighton Securities.
Wade also spoke on the ripple effects the tariffs will have not only on investors, but for the average consumer.
“These tariffs ultimately mean our auto prices will likely go up. Our produce prices will likely go up – your strawberries, bananas, avocados – you’re very likely to see price increases there. Our energy prices are going to go up – and for Americans who have already, for a number of years, have been struggling at the supermarket… the idea that we may have to struggle a little bit more and that things may get even harder than they’ve been is incredibly unsettling,” said Wade.
While the exact timeline of the tariffs are loose, Wade gives advice on the uncertainty surrounding the future impacts on Americans.
“While we have a loose timeline, there still exists a significant amount of uncertainty and when you have that amount of uncertainty, you have to have patience, and we don’t want to react. It’s always best to be proactive rather than reactive,” said Wade, “It’s when we don’t know [and when the average citizen] can’t get an idea of the impact of this. We always think worst case scenario and often, we think it isn’t as bad as it seems, and it also is as good as it seems, there’s usually some middle ground there”.
When it comes to energy bills, News 8 reached out to the New York ISO, the team dedicated to overseeing the state’s grids. A spokesperson said in part, “The U.S. and Canada have one of the most integrated electric grids in the world, allowing system operators in both countries to pool resources for improved reliability and economic efficiency.” The spokesperson added, “The NYISO anticipates having adequate supplies to meet expected demand on the system”.