Refunds for Tariffs to Be Distributed, Arizonans Unlikely to Benefit
Ciscomani Backed Trump's Tariffs That Raise Costs On Arizonans
TUCSON — Despite refunds being granted for the cost-raising tariffs that Congressman Juan Ciscomani supported, Arizonans are unlikely to benefit.
Congressman Juan Ciscomani voted in support of President Trump's tariffs that cost American households $1,000 in 2025 and likely more in 2026. The U.S. Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional, and now refunds are being granted that will likely benefit major corporations, and not Arizona families. According to Fortune, "American small businesses... may find it’s more difficult for them than it is for larger, wealthier firms."
According to Mother Jones:
Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, told Mother Jones the tariffs—a vast set of taxes Trump imposed on imports—‘haven’t achieved what they were meant to achieve.’
‘They were meant to onshore manufacturing—it’s continued to shrink. They were meant to lead to new factories being built—that hasn’t happened. They were meant to lead to an increase in government revenue—but the government’s about to write a whole bunch of checks. They were meant to lead to the US having leverage and signing new trade deals. We have effectively done none of that. So at a minimum, it achieved nothing positive.’
‘So, nothing here has helped American consumers,’ Wolfers said. ‘If Costco raised the price of olive oil, I paid that higher price, and now I’m poorer. Costco, now, gets a refund. So what we did is, we took money out of the government coffers and gave it to Costco. Costco is not going to write me a check, it has no reason to. And now there’s less money in the government coffers, so eventually they’re going to tax me some more.’ Theoretically, shoppers could benefit from lower prices after the tariffs—but the Budget Lab at Yale suggests that’s not the case, and that corporations haven’t stopped passing costs on to consumers.
“Since Trump and Ciscomani's tariffs were imposed, they've done nothing but cost Arizonans more money,” said Andrea Moreno, executive director of Honest Arizona. “Congressman Ciscomani needs to start looking out for Arizonans’ bottom line and stop siding with Republican policies that leave Arizonans worse off.”
An Honest Arizona report detailing the impact of tariffs is available online HERE.
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