As Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to go into effect for certain countries, business experts told MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski on Friday morning that the fallout will likely hurt women the most.
NBC News senior business correspondent Christine Romans and ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath stopped by “Morning Mika” to explain exactly how the disproportionate effect will happen, with McGrath noting that the tariffs will only exacerbate the financial struggles women already face.
“What we have effectively, is a situation that compounds an already precarious financial standing for a lot of women,” she said.
McGrath’s logic broke down into three elements, surrounding women in the workforce, and the fact that they already have to pay more for numerous goods than men have to.
“We know that American women say they are working less than they want to be,” McGrath explained. “Gallup polling shows us they’re working at lower capacities. They’re underemployed. Keep this in mind when we talk about the labor market.”
“Number two, women who are working make less than men. We talk about the pay gap all the time,” she continued. “It’s roughly 15% right now. Number three, we have the pink tax, the phenomenon wherein women tend to pay more for consumer goods than men do for those same goods.”
Of course, those goods are set to be the main target of the tariffs. Romans was also quick to point out that small businesses owned by women will hurt, reiterating that it is in fact Americans who have to pay for the tariffs.
“I mean, the president talks about tariffs paid by countries — China, for example — but the countries don’t pay the tariff,” she reminded viewers. “Yes, it makes their goods more expensive, and countries don’t like tariffs on their goods. They hate them. But it is the person who’s buying those goods who pays for them, and that is the business owner.”
You can watch the full discussion from “Morning Mika” in the video above.
