Who pays US tariffs there's only one answer to the question who pays us tariffs and it's a simple one the answer is importers namely US companies and consumers tariffs are attacks on imports paid by importers it's that simple but somehow there's a misunderstanding about how tariffs work some people claim exporters or foreign How tariffs work governments pay us tariffs but that's not how tariffs work foreign countries don't pay us tariffs instead US companies pay tariffs when imports come across the border this is how every tariff in the history of tariffs has worked when tariffs go up companies usually raise prices to make up for the new tax so ultimately US consumers pay tariffs even worse tariffs can put US companies out of business higher prices can turn consumers away our companies may no longer be able to afford imports they need to do business in the US if a company is big enough it can avoid raising consumer prices but at a cost large company can just eat the tariff but that would hurt their bottom line large companies can also force their suppliers to cut prices which can hurt upstream businesses there's only one Who pays tariffs right answer to the question who pays the tariffs u.s. tariffs are attacks paid for by US consumers and businesses not foreign governments and companies you