NEW: Hinson-Backed Tariffs “Increase Iowa’s Average Household Cost by $600”
Ben Kieffer, Host of “River to River” on IPR: “The Typical Iowa Household Spent Over $57,000 More [Since] 2020”
Frank Manzo, Economist at the Midwest Economic Policy Institute: “Tariffs Decreased Iowa’s Economy by $2 Billion […] and Manufacturing Lost Nearly 3,000 Jobs Due to Tariffs”
DES MOINES – A new report from Iowa Public Radio’s “River to River” shows Iowans are getting pummeled with price hikes, job losses, and disastrous trade wars because of Ashley Hinson’s repeated support for chaotic tariffs.
In short: Ashley Hinson has cost the average Iowa household $600 from her support of tariffs alone. She has voted four times to keep the tariffs in place, despite Iowans calling them a “growing disaster.”
The report spotlights the devastating costs of Hinson’s tariff tax on Iowans:
- “Households absorb at least 90% of the [tariffs], if not 100% of the [tariffs]”
- “Households in Iowa exhausted more of their earnings on new tariff costs”
- “The retaliatory actions from foreign countries, like those from China on soybean and soy-based exports, or on our corn products, have the largest adverse effects, in particular, on Iowa’s economy”
- “Tariffs decreased Iowa’s economy by $2 billion. So, it’s $2 billion smaller than it otherwise would have been”
- “Manufacturing lost nearly 3,000 jobs due to the tariffs.”
- “The typical Iowa household spent $57,000 more [since] 2020 just to maintain the same standard of living.”
Missed the report? See below for more key highlights:
Iowa Public Radio: Tariffs increase Iowa’s average household cost by $600
- Frank Manzo, Economic at the Midwest Economic Policy Institute:
- “Households absorb at least 90% of the [tariffs], if not 100% of the [tariffs]. So, by raising the price of many consumer goods, tariffs impact every household reeling from high inflation. But they do have an outsized impact on low-income families who can least afford it. […] Households in Iowa exhausted more of their earnings on new tariff costs, and in particular low-income households exhausted more of the earnings on tariff costs. […] It’s money spent on a tax that could have gone to other items.”
- “These new tariffs have cost [Iowa] another $1 billion, but in this case, they’re doing nothing for schools or healthcare or workers in Iowa. It’s just like having an increase in the sales tax in Iowa.”
- “The Midwest is very exposed, particularly exposed to tariffs because the region, first of all, remains the epicenter of US manufacturing. […] The retaliatory actions from foreign countries, like those from China on soybean and soy-based exports, or on our corn products, have the largest adverse effects, in particular, on Iowa’s economy.”
- “In Iowa, the agricultural industry shrunk in 2025.”
- “We find that tariffs decreased Iowa’s economy by $2 billion. So, it’s $2 billion smaller than it otherwise would have been. Manufacturing lost nearly 3,000 jobs due to the tariffs.”
- Ben Kieffer, Host of “River to River:”
- “[Common Sense Institute] found that the typical Iowa household spent $57,000 more [since] 2020 just to maintain the same standard of living.”
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