Trump tariffs cost households $1,700

The $1,700 tariff hit was not an average for every U.S. household. Yale’s Budget Lab used that figure for middle-income households under President Donald Trump’s April 2, 2025 tariff package. (budgetlab.yale.edu) In the same April 2, 2025 analysis, Yale estimated all U.S. tariffs enacted in 2025 would raise the overall price level 2.3% in the short run. It put the average household consumer loss at $3,800 in 2024 dollars. (budgetlab.yale.edu) That report also broke the burden out by income. Households in the second-lowest income decile were estimated to lose $980 a year, middle-income households $1,700, and top-decile households $4,600. (budgetlab.yale.edu) Yale tied those costs to a sharp jump in the U.S. tariff wall. After the 2025 measures, it estimated the effective tariff rate at 22.5%, the highest since 1909. (budgetlab.yale.edu) The growth hit in that model was larger than the number in the prompt. Yale estimated real gross domestic product growth would be 0.9 percentage points lower in 2025 from all 2025 tariffs, with the economy 0.6% smaller in the long run. (budgetlab.yale.edu) Another tax-policy model showed a smaller 2026 burden after the courts stepped in. The Tax Foundation estimated Trump’s remaining 2026 tariffs would increase taxes by about $600 per U.S. household and reduce long-run gross domestic product by 0.2%. (taxfoundation.org) That change followed a Supreme Court ruling on February 20, 2026. In *Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump*, the court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. (supremecourt.gov) The opinion covered two big buckets of Trump tariffs: the drug-trafficking duties on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, and the “reciprocal” tariffs that imposed at least a 10% duty on imports from all trading partners. (supremecourt.gov) After that ruling, Trump replaced the voided emergency tariffs with a temporary 10% import surcharge under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, effective February 24, 2026. Trade lawyers said the surcharge was set to last 150 days unless Congress acted. (taxfoundation.org) (perkinscoie.com) The refund fight is real, but the carrier-specific claim in the prompt was not supported by the sources I could verify. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it is building a CAPE refund process for duties imposed under the invalidated International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs. (cbp.gov) Trade lawyers and customs advisers say importers still have to pay attention to entry status, protests, drawback claims, and liquidation deadlines while that system rolls out. As of March 26, 2026, Customs had enrolled 78% of affected entries covering about $120 billion in principal duty payments, according to an Ernst & Young tax update citing a court filing. (flexport.com) (taxnews.ey.com) So the clean version of the story is narrower than the headline suggests. The best-sourced $1,700 estimate was a 2025 middle-household loss figure, and the 2026 fight has moved from tariff collection to court-ordered unwinding and refunds. (budgetlab.yale.edu) (cbp.gov)