KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 03: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Kinston Regional Jetport on November 03, 2024 in Kinston, North Carolina. With only two days until the election, Trump is campaigning for re-election on Sunday in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

‘Pumpkin Spice Palpatine’: A TikToker lays out exactly why Trump’s tariffs are about to make things way more expensive

The economy has been a strong selling point for Donald Trump, who won the 2024 presidential election. Unfortunately for his voters, they’re about to find out exactly how tariffs work. It’s going to be one brutal learning curve ahead.

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In a TikTok video, user P (@socialist_mac_miller) educated people online about tariffs. Many of Trump’s voters believed that they would get cheaper goods due to his economic proposals, but P disputed this claim in his two-minute video. He claims that, on the contrary, companies are already preparing to hike their prices prior to a Trump presidency in preparation for Trump’s “dumbass tariffs.” This claim was verified by several companies who are preparing to import large orders of goods before the tariffs take effect.

P also clarified that a tariff isn’t a tax on another country. Rather, it’s a fine paid by American businesses—which will ultimately be shouldered by consumers. Throughout the video, P expressed anger and frustration over voters who naively voted for Trump without understanding tariffs. His fury is understandable, since the keywords “Trump tariffs” started trending on Google Trends only after the election.

He ended the video, claiming that he didn’t want to hear complaints from Trump voters when groceries become incredibly unaffordable. “I don’t want to hear a fucking peep out of any of you who voted for Pumpkin Spice Palpatine when the price of a carton of eggs shoots up to $18.” I’m almost sure that Pumpkin Spice Palpatine is the most creative Donald Trump nickname out there. It’s time we retire “orange” or “fascist”—they’ve lost their flare for insult.

An incentive for local manufacturing?

Trump’s economic pitch is hinged on the idea that tariffs will motivate Americans to produce goods locally. Under basic economics, this should make agricultural produce cheaper. P explains that American companies are unlikely to pay workers $15 to $20 an hour. This is true if the same services can be outsourced for cheaper. In Bangladesh alone, garment workers are paid $113 monthly. Bangladesh is the second-largest exporter of clothing. Additionally, P says that the US agricultural workforce is composed of undocumented migrants. It’s estimated that more than half of crop workers in the US lack legal immigration status. With Trump vowing to implement mass deportations, the US may struggle to feed its population with local produce alone.


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Vanessa Esguerra
Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.