Tariffs and Tax-cuts: Impacts and Implications of Trump's Potential Policies

This past November, the presidential election occurred, concluding with Donald Trump elected as the 45th president of the United States, beating out former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump earned 312 electoral votes, winning key states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Also winning the popular vote by around 2.2 million votes, you might have some questions about what his policies are and their effects on you and the people around you.

Immigration

One of the larger and more well-known promises of Trump’s campaign was to conduct the biggest mass deportation movement of undocumented immigrants in the nation’s history. This comes after record-breaking highs of undocumented immigrants under the Biden administration. Trump plans to accomplish this by utilizing the National Guard and domestic police forces.

Trump also pledged to complete the wall on the Mexican-American border, which began its construction during his first term in office. Furthermore, he has vowed to use ideological screening for entrants from certain nations, end birthright citizenship, and reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires Mexican migrants seeking asylum to stay in Mexico until their court date.

Experts have claimed that these plans could face legal challenges, as well as logistical problems. For example, in order to end birthright citizenship, an amendment to the constitution would most likely have to pass. As for how these policies can impact a high school student, deportation could lead to economic problems such as higher prices. This would be due to labor shortages that would come about from mass deportations.

Economy

Another of Trump's main promises during his 2024 campaign was to increase tariffs. Recently, he has pledged to have 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods and 60% on Chinese goods. The main focus of this is to cut the trade deficit and support American businesses as opposed to foreign ones. Although those are the intentions, they could have one unintended consequence: increased prices. As companies pay the high tariffs when importing goods, companies will pass the price of those tariffs onto customers in order to secure more profit.

Trump spoke of tax cuts, such as abolishing tax on social security payments, shaving corporation taxes down, rolling back the Biden administration’s tax hikes on wealthier Americans, and making tips tax-free.

Making tips tax free will help to increase revenue for waiters and waitresses, 12% of whom are teenagers 16-19.

Trump has also vowed to decrease inflation, which would bring prices down, but he has yet to announce significant policies or plans to support this claim.

Climate Regulations

Trump has made promises to cut certain regulations on gas-powered vehicles in order to support the American car manufacturing industry. He has also sworn to roll back fuel efficiency standards that were established under the Biden administration. Cutting these policies could expedite the effects of climate change, yielding possibly catastrophic events for the environment. Another undertaking by Trump is to increase the production of US fossil fuels. In order to achieve this, he expressed interest in opening the Arctic wilderness up for oil drilling.

International Relations

Trump plans on having a more isolationist and non-interventionist approach to world affairs. For example, he plans to reduce aid sent to Ukraine, disengage from foreign conflicts, and urge Israel to end its operation in the war against Palestine in the Levant. Despite this, he has still displayed support for Israel.

Education

Trump and other Republicans pledged to dismantle the Department of Education, the cabinet-level department that helps supervise the education system in the United States. He also expressed the idea of using federal funds to move the K-12 school system away from the use of tenure for teachers and instead adopting merit pay. Although it has not been confirmed, merit-based pay is most often decided based on state testing scores. The abolition of tenure and addition of merit pay could have two large effects on the school system: a larger shortage of teachers than is already occurring, as many may be upset with this policy change, and more standardized testing to decide merit pay.

On the topic of postsecondary education, the government may possibly take over the process of accreditation for colleges and universities. Another idea Trump had is to redirect confiscated endowment money into funding an online academy that can offer college credentials to all Americans free of charge. These policies could make it easier for American citizens and students to access higher education.

Workers’ Rights

Although only a possibility, Trump may make it harder for workers to unionize, which could have drastic effects on current students' future rights, like fair pay, hours, and protection, when entering the workforce.

Abortion

During his debate with Harris, Trump said that he would not sign a national abortion ban into law if he were to take office. He claimed that overturning Roe v. Wade was enough change on a federal level, even saying that he would veto a federal abortion ban if it were to arrive on his desk.

If Republicans wanted to override his veto, even with a Republican majority in the Senate and House of Representatives, they do not have a supermajority that would be required to overturn his veto. However, a vote to override a veto related to a national abortion ban is unlikely, as at Trump's insistence, the GOP did not call for a national abortion ban.

Now that all of Trump's policies have been broken down for you alongside their possible effects on high school students, you can come to your own conclusion. Whether good or bad, the changes that will possibly be enacted under the Trump administration can have massive impacts on the lives and experiences of high school students. Especially since some high schoolers will be voting for their first time in the next election, it’s important to understand these policies that could have impacts on not just the social and political landscape but also on their future. In a fast-paced and constantly changing world, it is incredibly important for high schoolers to understand the ever-evolving world around them.