In a recent survey conducted by PwC, a significant majority of American business leaders anticipate that U.S. tariffs will continue to be high for years, extending beyond the Donald Trump era.
Kristin Bohl, a customs and international trade partner at PwC, believes that elevated tariffs are unlikely to be reduced, reported MarketWatch on Monday. She said Trump’s initial tariffs faced backlash, with companies warning about potential inflation and economic impact. However, she reminded, the “Biden administration came in and did not remove them.”
Bohl noted that tariffs were expanded under Biden and have been increased even further in Trump’s second term.
“So we’ve seen tariffs be put in place and endure throughout three separate, albeit two mirroring, administrations,” Bohl said.
Bohl’s comments are corroborated by a recent PwC survey, which showed that approximately 86% of U.S. executives believe import taxes will continue to be a significant aspect of the country’s economic framework.
PwC’s Rohit Kumar said global markets will likely adapt to Trump-era tariffs by 2029, making them the new norm. Kumar also noted that it will be difficult to terminate tariffs when they’re generating substantial revenue for the federal government.
This is particularly relevant given that the federal budget situation is not improving and is heading towards a Social Security trust fund insolvency date of around 2032 or early 2033.
Revenues Beat Politics
PwC trade experts echoed Wharton professor João Gomes, who previously argued that, despite political opposition, tariffs are likely to persist because they generate significant government revenue, making Democrats just as likely as Republicans to rely on them.
Notably, former President Joe Biden did not broadly remove President Donald Trump’s first-term tariffs, especially the major Section 301 duties on Chinese imports, which largely remain in place. However, he made limited adjustments, including restoring some product-specific tariff exclusions. Overall, the core tariff structure was retained, with only targeted relief rather than a full rollback.
In February, the Tax Foundation report estimated that tariffs could generate $1.6–$2 trillion in revenue from 2026 to 2035. In 2026 alone, they could raise $171 billion—the largest tax increase since 1993, though that could drop to about $54 billion without the IEEPA tariffs, which the Supreme Court struck down in February. Notably, the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, in early March, ordered the administration to refund billions collected in tariffs.
Currently, the overall effective tariff rate for the U.S. is 11.8%, its highest level since the early 1940s, excluding last year, according to Yale’s Budget Lab estimates.
Tariffs Widen Deficit, Fuel Inflation
The imposition of tariffs by the Trump administration contributed to a record $162 billion trade deficit in March 2025 as U.S. businesses rushed to front-load imports ahead of their implementation. Imports surged to $342.7 billion, rising 5% month-on-month and 30.8% year-on-year, driven by stockpiling of goods ranging from machinery to consumer electronics.
These tariffs were also responsible for a surge in inflation, with a Federal Reserve study revealing a direct “dollar-for-dollar” price increase for consumers.
A FEDS Note by economists found that tariffs introduced last year significantly reshaped the U.S. economy, raising core goods PCE prices by 3.1% by February 2026. The study also concluded that tariffs fully explain excess inflation in core goods and contributed 0.8% to overall core PCE inflation.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock