UNC professor: Impact of potential trade war will be gradual for Triangle consumers

Now that the United States and China are headed toward a trade war, Triangle residents are starting to wonder how it will affect them.

Posted 9:17 p.m. Jul 6, 2018 — Updated 3:19 p.m. Jul 13, 2018

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Now that the United States and China are headed toward a trade war, Triangle residents are starting to wonder how it will affect them.

"I'm kind of worried about random prices going up, because I am already going to be poor as a grad student, so it would be nice not to have to pay more for things," said University of North Carolina graduate student Gerardo Perez Goncalves.

UNC economics professor Patrick Conway said the effects will be gradual for consumers.

"This beginning of the trade war, with tariffs on relatively small parts of international trade, should not be that costly to us unless we are unfortunate enough to be one of the exporters,” he said.

Conway specifically pointed to North Carolina farmers who export pork to China as people who will feel an immediate effect.

"The notion that we have gotten to a point where we actually observe a trade war, a tit for tat imposition of tariffs, is cause for concern because that means higher prices in the future," he said.

Conway said the average person can expect to see these higher prices in about eight to 10 months if the Trump administration cannot reach a compromise with China.

"We should be discouraged that the negotiation has not been as effective to this point as we might have hoped and that the other countries have not come to the table with us," he said.

Suggest A Correction