President Donald Trump’s first big betrayal of his supporters this week was his acknowledgement on Wednesday that American taxpayers will pay for the construction of his proposed border wall with Mexico. Trump, who has long insisted that Mexico would pay for it, claimed that we’ll be “reimbursed” by our neighbor to the south—despite the nation’s repeated insistence that this folly. How would that work? On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said “the plan that’s taking shape now” includes a 20 percent tax on all imports from Mexico to the United States, the cost of which would almost certainly be passed onto consumers.

The White House is now walking back this idea, saying it’s just one of many that are under consideration to finance Trump’s signature campaign promise—a “buffet of options,” in the words of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. But it’s just the latest evidence of how Trump’s policies could end up hurting the very “forgotten men and women of our country” he promised to champion. Working-class Americans, including the white working-class voters who were vital to Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton, would be hammered by the policies he’s poised to implement. And they also won’t benefit from the many ways Trump is already looking out for the country’s elite citizens and corporations.



When Spicer floated the 20 percent tax on Thursday, the bipartisan backlash was swift and decisive. Here we have a liberal economist, a left-leaning economic reporter, a conservative editor, an ex-congressman Tea Partier, and a Republican senator, respectively:

Tariffs aren't paid by the exporter; it depends a bit on the details, but it's basically a tax on domestic consumers 6/ — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 26, 2017

Alternative headline: Trump floats arcane way to tax American consumers for border wall, slowing Mexican and American economies by the by. — Annie Lowrey (@AnnieLowrey) January 26, 2017

So, the wall will be paid for first by American taxpayers, and then American consumers will bear the additional costs of Trump's rage — Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) January 26, 2017

No @seanspicer. A 20% tax on Mexican imports to pay for the wall means American consumers will pay for the wall.https://t.co/vttCllOl1b — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 26, 2017

Simply put, any policy proposal which drives up costs of Corona, tequila, or margaritas is a big-time bad idea. Mucho Sad. (2) — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 26, 2017

It’s not just drinks, either. Economics experts across the ideological spectrum said the cost of many goods—some that Americans might not even realize come from Mexico—would be passed on to consumers, and that it could be a significant hit.

“If you tax exports from Mexico into the United States, you’re going to make things ranging from avocados to appliances to flat-screen TVs, you’re going to make them more expensive,” Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said at the Mexican Embassy in Washington Thursday night, according to Reuters.