Businesses, consumers concerns grow after Trump announces new round of tariffs

WASHINGTON - After weeks of threats, President Donald Trump on Wednesday delivered on his promise to level trade tariffs on foreign countries. 

He announced a 25% reciprocal tariff on all foreign-made cars starting at 12 a.m., an across-the-board 10% tariffs on all imports and even higher tariffs on the EU, China, Taiwan, Japan and India. 

What they're saying:

Trump says these tariffs will create a level playing field between and create new U.S. factories, but outside of the White House, FOX 5 found mixed opinions on the potential impact of the tariffs. 

"I think it won’t be instant but I’m patiently optimistic," one D.C. resident said. 

"Yeah, I’m concerned about it but I’m hoping it will be resolved," another told FOX 5. 

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The president says the plan will force a more fair trade deal for the U.S. and cause companies to start making their goods here but there are big concerns over price spikes as well. 

Administration officials say by placing tariffs on overseas imports, it will raise $600 billion annually. 

The president says these tariffs are likely to cause "short-term pain" as prices rise in response but he insists that in the long term, they will boost the U.S. economy.

Local perspective:

Car dealers are just some of the companies — much like consumers — watching very carefully how the president’s tariff gambit plays out. 

The Washington New Automobile Dealers Association says if the tariffs work it could lower prices by increasing U.S. auto production. 

"They are searching for certainty just a like a consumer is, they’d like to know what the pricing impact is going to be," said John O’Donnell, president of the Washington New Automobile Dealers Association.

Fitzgerald Auto Mall says they’re seeing an increase in customers as people look to buy a car before prices increase but Fitzgerald Auto Group President Rob Smith says overall, the new tariffs have created uncertainty.

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"I really do believe that there has been a spike and we may be pulling business that would have been in the future because people are concerned about paying too much," Smith said. 

Economists warn that there is risk in any tariff war. Other countries are likely to slap U.S. exports with the same or higher tariffs and that could hurt American businesses. 

Likewise, it’s expected importers would likely pass along some of the cost of the taxes on to U.S. consumers.

Dig deeper:

The National Association of Manufacturers released a statement, saying in part, "The high costs of new tariffs threaten investment, jobs, [and] supply chains.

FOX 5 also heard from George Mason’s Terry Clower, who said among other things that american consumers will likely see many prices rise.

"All of these things that we see in, whether it’s a Walmart, Costco, or whatever, that are really lower end products that don’t have a lot of value added that have been produced by china, it looks like the tariff on those is gonna be 35 percent and maybe up to 50 percent," Clower said. 

"I would expect there to be a little of that maybe absorbed by producers, but it’s certainly not going to be all of that," he continued. 

The tariffs go into effect on Thursday. That’s when a separate 25 percent tariff on foreign-made cars will kick-in as well.