Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The Hidden Moral Cost of America’s Tariff Crisis

The Hidden Moral Cost of America’s Tariff Crisis

Small business owner attaching permanent close sign on the shop door.

Getty Images, Kannika Paison

In the spring of 2025, as American families struggle with unprecedented consumer costs, we find ourselves at a point of "moral reckoning." The latest data from the Yale Budget Lab reveals that tariff policies have driven consumer prices up by 2.9% in the short term. In comparison, the Penn Wharton Budget Model projects a staggering 6% reduction in long-term GDP and a 5% decline in wages. But these numbers, stark as they are, tell only part of the story.

The actual narrative is one of moral choice and democratic values. Eddie Glaude describes this way in his book “Democracy in Black”: Our economic policies must be viewed through the lens of ethical significance—not just market efficiency. When we examine the tariff regime's impact on American communities, we see economic data points and a fundamental challenge to our democratic principles of equity and justice.


Far too often, the burden of such policies falls disproportionately on those who are least able to bear it. Black Enterprise reports that Black-owned businesses face a dual challenge: economic survival and preserving their role as community anchors. The average American household is preparing to shoulder an additional $3,800 annual costs. Still, this figure masks a more profound inequity—BIPOC communities and working-class families spend a higher percentage of their income on consumer goods, meaning they bear a disproportionate share of the tariff burden.

The state of our economic solvency is particularly crucial because it intersects with a concept known as the “value gap." The value gap is a premise that white(ness) lives are valued more than others, which Gluade argues remains embedded in our economic and legislative policies. Trump's enacted tariffs' disparate impact on ethnic and uniquely diverse-owned businesses isn't merely coincidental; it reflects more profound structural inequities in our financial system.

Small businesses, particularly those in marginalized communities, face existential threats. According to Small Business Majority, 53% of small companies are concerned about tariffs' negative impacts. These aren't just statistics—they represent community pillars, generational wealth builders, and engines of local economic mobility.

Adherence to a moral imperative requires us to move beyond purely economic calculations. It invites deeply reflective and prophetic questioning of ourselves and our systems. We must ask: What kind of society do we wish to be? How do our trade policies reflect our values? The answer lies not in protectionist rhetoric but in "democratic practices"—policies that strengthen communities rather than fracture them.

Many economists forecast that 72% of small businesses anticipate higher prices; we are not just seeing market dynamics at work. The country is witnessing the erosion of community resilience, the narrowing of economic opportunity, and the weakening of social bonds that sustain democratic life. Finding sound solutions requires reimagining our economic policies through a moral lens and prioritizing equity and community well-being. Hence, developing trade policies that:

  1. Recognize the interconnected nature of economic justice and democratic health
  2. Account for disparate impacts on marginalized communities
  3. Support rather than undermine local economic ecosystems
  4. Prioritize long-term community stability over short-term political gains

The potential impact of the proposed tariff on U.S. communities and consumers could not result in economic consequences. Such tariffs bring to bear a moral crisis that demands a response grounded in principled and practical solutions. Pathways forward are possible with increased economic adjustments; they fundamentally rethink how we value community, equity, and democratic participation in financial decisions. A democracy's economy ought to be more than just market efficiency. It should be morally courageous and committed to shared prosperity.

Fierce debate over Trump-era tariffs transcends mere spreadsheets and GDP calculations. It is not an argument about trade deficits or quarterly economic indicators—it's a mirror reflecting our national identity and core values. When leaders indiscriminately slap tariffs on steel from Canada or solar panels from China, we're not just adjusting numbers on a balance sheet but making profound statements about how we view our place in the global community. Unfortunately, protectionist policies often hit hardest in unexpected places: the main street's mom & pop shops, rural American manufacturers who can't afford higher material costs, the local farmer watching crops rot because their usual markets have vanished, or the single parent facing steeper prices at the grocery store.

Instead of retreating behind economic walls, policies that match the complexity of our times are essential—policies that protect American workers while staying true to our traditions of innovation, fair play, and economic opportunity for all. We are left to choose between continuing in a direction that exacerbates economic inequality and community fragmentation or embracing a vision of monetary policy as a moral practice that strengthens our democratic fabric while ensuring no community bears an unjust burden in our pursuit of economic security.

Rev. Dr. F. Willis Johnson is a spiritual entrepreneur, author, scholar-practioner whose leadership and strategies around social and racial justice issues are nationally recognized and applied.

Read More

Israel Strikes Iran. Will the U.S. Remain on the Sidelines?

Rescue teams work at damaged buildings in Nobonyad Square following Israeli airstrikes on June 13, 2025 in Tehran, Iran.

(Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Israel Strikes Iran. Will the U.S. Remain on the Sidelines?

"I want to thank President Trump for his leadership in confronting Iran's nuclear weapons program. He has made clear time and again that Iran cannot have a nuclear enrichment program," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an address soon after launching Operation Rising Lion, an attack on Iran.

Netanyahu said that Israel targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and the country’s ballistic missile program, as well as top nuclear scientists and officials, in Friday's strike.

Keep ReadingShow less
Abortion at the Dinner Table

A doctor and patient holding hands.

Getty Images, thianchai sitthikongsak

Abortion at the Dinner Table

It was New Year's Eve 2021, six months before Roe v. Wade was overturned, and I was sitting at my parents' dinner table in La Lima, Honduras, about to have one of the most appallingly memorable nights in my life. The fact was that I, a Latina immigrant from Honduras working in New Orleans, had just had an abortion in the same city, one that marked my life in countless ways. I was quick to address the elephant in the room, my abortion in the face of a deeply Catholic culture, riddled with machismo, and in a country that criminalizes abortions. The table was silent for a moment. Around me were my family and my partner at the time. My mother broke down in tears:

“Mataste a mi nieto.”

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn on May 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn on May 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Getty Images, Andrew Harnik

Congress Bill Spotlight: National Garden of American Heroes, As Trump Proposed

The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about, but that often don't get the right news coverage.

What do Kobe Bryant, Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney, Alex Trebek, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common?

Keep ReadingShow less
Just the Facts: Using the Military to Stop Riots

National Guard

File footage

Just the Facts: Using the Military to Stop Riots

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

Before President Trump called up the military to stop the L.A. riots this week, has the military ever been called upon to stop protests in the United States?

Keep ReadingShow less