FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Exact Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of White House

Washington D.C., USA - March 23, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics:
"I think there's no doubt it will be negative. You can't gain from imposing tariffs. That's almost impossible. Consumers will pay a lot more. And, take some of the products for example, if you look at consumer electronics, the products that are coming from China in many cases have not been produced in the United States for many years, and the production of those products is not going to come back to the United States in response to a tariff."

FILE: Beijing, China - Exact date unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of U.S. dollar banknotes going through cash counting machine

FILE: China - Exact date and location unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of ship, port

Washington D.C., USA - March 23, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics:
"I think Trump supporters will definitely lose from these 301 tariffs, because they are very broad. They're going to cover a broad range of products. They're going to have a significant effect on prices in the U.S. market and that will affect consumers including Trump supporters across the board."

Chicago, State of Illinois, USA - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of customers, staff in supermarket
7. Customers leaving supermarket

The Trump administration's move to impose steep tariffs on China will hurt American consumers, including Trump supporters, said an American economist on Friday.

Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, made the comments after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to 60 billion U.S. dollars of imports from China and place restrictions on Chinese investment in the U.S.

The memorandum is based on a so-called Section 301 investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer practices, launched by the Trump administration in August 2017.

"I think there's no doubt it will be negative. You can't gain from imposing tariffs. That's almost impossible. Consumers will pay a lot more. And, take some of the products for example, if you look at consumer electronics, the products that are coming from China in many cases have not been produced in the United States for many years, and the production of those products is not going to come back to the United States in response to a tariff," said Lardy.

According to a statement released by the Tax Foundation, a Washington D.C.–based think tank, "it is crucial to recognize these tariffs are actually taxes on Americans who consume products from China—meaning Americans will directly and immediately bear the burden of any tariffs, not the exporting companies."

Moreover, the Tax Foundation noted that the Trump administration's tariffs on China would negate about 20 percent of the benefits of the Republic Party's recent tax cuts.

According to CNN Money, Trump's China and steel tariffs will likely hurt the GOP's political base ahead of this year's mid-term elections. Farmers in the Midwest could face Chinese tariffs and the auto industry in Rust Belt cities could also suffer from tariffs on steel imposed by the Trump administration.

"I think Trump supporters will definitely lose from these 301 tariffs, because they are very broad. They're going to cover a broad range of products. They're going to have a significant effect on prices in the U.S. market and that will affect consumers including Trump supporters across the board," said Lardy.