President Donald Trump has repeated the same mantra for months: The Chinese are paying the full price of his tariffs. It's a line that the overwhelming majority of economists and business owners say is false, but Trump kept saying it - until Aug. 13.
The White House announced Tuesday that the president's latest tariffs on China would be delayed on many popular items like cellphones, laptops and strollers. The 10 percent tax would not go into effect until Dec. 15, effectively ensuring that retailers can import goods for the holidays before the tariffs take effect.
Trump himself told reporters that the delay is to ensure consumers don't face higher costs this Christmas. Here are his full remarks:
"We are doing this for the Christmas season, just in case some of the tariffs would have an impact on U.S. consumers. So far they've had virtually none. The only impact has been that we've collected almost $60 billion from China, compliments of China. But just in case they might have an impact on people, what we've done is we've delayed it so they won't be relevant for the Christmas shopping season," Trump told reporters before he flew to western Pennsylvania.
He used qualifying phrases such as "just in case" and "might have," but his words - and actions - are a noticeable change from his insistence that the Chinese are paying the full cost of his tariffs. (Note that the harm to American farmers comes from China's counter-tariffs, which Trump has sought to offset with a bailout targeting farm country.)