Media coverage of the U.S. economy

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

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Broadcast nightly news largely failed to cover looming Trump tariffs

Economists predict price spikes and job losses from proposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published

Weeknight broadcast news programs from ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS have largely failed to cover President Donald Trump’s expected 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on imports from China since he announced them the day he took office for a second time on January 20. Economists are predicting that the tariffs, which the White House has confirmed are scheduled to take effect February 1, will function as an import tax paid by U.S. customers, leading to price spikes, higher inflation, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

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  • Economists have predicted significant job losses and increases in the inflation rate from Trump’s upcoming tariffs

    • The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates that the recently announced tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico alone would raise inflation by half a percentage point in 2025 and cost the U.S. more than $250 billion in lost economic growth during Trump’s term. These figures include similar retaliatory measures from China. [Peterson Institute for International Economics, 1/17/25]
    • The Tax Foundation estimates that Trump’s tariffs will lead to 344,000 lost jobs, increase taxes on Americans by $1.2 trillion over the next decade, and reduce gross domestic product by 0.4%. [Tax Foundation, updated 1/31/25]
    • Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz: The higher inflation rate from Trump’s tariffs means “central banks will raise interest rates,” possibly “leading to the worst of possible outcomes – interest rates going up with stagflation, interest rates going up in the face of a weak economy.” [The Guardian, 1/31/25]
    • Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi: Trump’s tariffs “will result in higher prices for the things that we import. … It will add to inflationary pressures.” [CNN, 1/31/25]
    • Nomura chief economist for developed markets David Seif: Because of Trump’s tariffs, “there is likely to be higher inflation this year than there otherwise would be, and that might limit the Federal Reserve to a single rate cut this year.” [The Guardian, 1/31/25]
    • The Cato Institute explained that because of the integration of Canada and Mexico in the U.S.’s car market, the tariffs “will harm US automotive operations and workers, as well as American car consumers.” [Cato Institute, 1/29/25]
    • GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan: “There could also be an economic slowdown if these tariffs are implemented. … It could send our economy into a recession simply because it's a massive increase in cost that consumers would essentially pay.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/31/25]

  • Broadcast evening news programs mostly failed to inform their viewers about Trump’s devastating tariffs

  • Media Matters reviewed news coverage from January 20 to January 30 from ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS’ Evening News, NBC’s Nightly News, and PBS’ News Hour and found:

    • CBS’ Evening News discussed Trump’s upcoming tariffs in 2 segments for a total of 3 minutes and 23 seconds.
    • PBS’ News Hour discussed Trump’s upcoming tariffs in 1 segment for a total of 53 seconds.
    • ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC’s Nightly News failed to cover Trump’s upcoming tariffs at all.

    Both of the CBS segments and the lone PBS segment did mention that the tariffs were likely to increase prices and/or inflation. The failure of ABC and NBC to inform their nightly viewers at all about the issue is even more glaring in light of their significant digital coverage of the tariffs.

  • Methodology

  • Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream and Kinetiq video databases for all original weekday episodes of ABC's World News Tonight, CBS' Evening News, NBC's Nightly News, and PBS' News Hour for any variations of any of the terms “Canada,” “Mexico,” or “China” within close proximity of either of the terms “External Revenue Service” or “ERS” or any variations of any of the terms “tariff,” “import,” “export,” “25,” or “10” from January 20, 2025, when President Donald Trump indicated his intention to officially announce the tariffs on February 1, through January 30, 2025.

    We timed segments, which we defined as instances when Trump's proposed tariffs were the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of the tariffs. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed the tariffs with one another.

    We did not time passing mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned the tariffs without another speaker engaging with the comment, or teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about the tariffs scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

    We then reviewed the identified segments for whether they quoted Trump claiming that foreign companies or countries would be paying the tariffs, mentioned possible price increases for American consumers resulting from the tariffs or that the tariffs may increase inflation, or mentioned any economic studies projecting specific costs from the tariffs for American households or projecting inflation increases.