A Green Country banker says tariffs proposed by President-elect Donald Trump could cause prices to rise for Oklahomans.
Steve Wyett is the chief investment strategist for BOK Financial. He says the company is optimistic, but how new fees on imported and exported goods will be leveled is important.
“You don’t want to say tariffs are all bad or all good, it’s really how it’s going be implemented. Not unlike tax policy, the devil’s gonna be in the details of how this works,” said Wyett.
Trump has suggested broadly placing tariffs as high as 20 percent on countries that have “been ripping us off for years.” While that could see higher prices for the average consumer, Wyett says “reciprocity” will be an important concept during the Trump years.
“A lot of this is about an even playing field. If you’re going to have open access to the U.S. market — which everybody wants because the U.S. is the largest economy in the world — then we should have open access to your markets.”
Fees for China, which Wyett says is in its own "bucket" due to geopolitical tensions, could be higher than 60 percent.
Tariff revenue won’t make up for tax cuts proposed by Trump when it comes to the country's budget, but there are still many question marks.
“No tax on tips, overtime, social security, cutting corporate tax. President Trump was passing out tax cuts like candy at the end of the campaign, so we’ll see how that is all able to be worked out. The reality of tariff fully paying for that might be difficult to attain,” Wyett said.
How consumers respond to changing prices will be critical, according to Wyett, since inflation is linked to demand.
On Friday, Trump nominated hedge fund executive Scott Bessent to lead the Department of Treasury. Bessent is considered a “safe” choice who may temper some of Trump’s more extreme inclinations.
