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If you find yourself paying more this year for your favourite electronics, toys, or everyday appliances, it might have something to do with global trade. In this lesson, you’ll explore how tariffs, supply chains, and shifting trade relationships — especially between the US and China — affect prices and product availability. Using real-world examples, you’ll uncover how key economic concepts like opportunity cost, consumer sovereignty, and comparative advantage affect your life as a consumer.
Essential Question: How do international trade policies like tariffs impact the prices we pay, the products we buy and the global economy we rely on?
Read the FT article and then answer the questions below
The Chinese goods Americans most rely on, from microwaves to Barbies
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What are tariffs, and how might they affect the price of goods like video game consoles and dolls?
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Why do companies like Mattel consider raising prices on toys like Barbies in response to tariffs?
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According to the article’s graphic, what percentage of microwaves and smartphones imported into the US came from China last year, and why is that significant?
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How does China’s dominance in manufacturing certain goods impact the US economy and consumer choices?
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Why did the Trump administration exempt smartphones and laptops from tariffs, and who benefits from this decision?
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Why might higher tariffs lead companies to pass on costs to consumers rather than absorb them?
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How could a tariff on Chinese air conditioners or microwaves affect students and their families during the summer?
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Why is it difficult to move production of complex goods like smartphones out of China, even when tariffs are in place?
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What is the opportunity cost for a company that chooses to stop importing goods from China rather than pay tariffs?
Joel Miller and James Redelsheimer, Foundation for Economic Education.
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