Earlier this month, the Trump administration gave America some excellent news. It lowered tariffs from 25% to 15% on some aluminum, steel, and copper, plus products made from them. The proclamation cited the importance of these goods to national security and American manufacturing.
This move deserves praise because, as we’ve seen, tariffs raise costs by taxing imported items that American businesses need for their operations and sales. A tariff is a tax on an import. When that tax hits steel, copper, or other key goods, the price does not stay at the port. It necessarily moves through the whole economy, reaching factories, job sites, stores, and then kitchen tables.
Let’s celebrate this move and keep pushing for more. Lower tariffs can help American businesses build, hire, and sell at lower costs. They can also help families regain some of the buying power they have lost. That point matters most in one place where families especially feel the squeeze each day: housing.
SECTION 232 TARIFFS ON MEDICAL DEVICES ARE A BLUNT INSTRUMENT FOR A PRECISION INDUSTRY
The housing market now puts the American dream out of reach for far too many people. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2024 that the income needed to afford a home in the U.S. had risen 80% since January 2020. Fast Company reported a similar rise in 2025. The National Association of Home Builders found that 70% of American households cannot afford a $400,000 home.
Those numbers tell a painful story. Home prices have increased far faster than paychecks. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies has also shown how home costs have raced ahead of household income. Families who once hoped to buy now wait, rent longer, or give up.
Tariffs make that problem worse because homes require vast amounts of traded goods. Builders use steel, aluminum, copper, appliances, fixtures, tools, and parts. When tariffs raise the costs of these goods, builders face a hard choice. They can eat the costs, delay projects, or pass them along to buyers. In a tight market, buyers are often forced to pay.
That means tariffs do not just hit large firms. They hit a young couple trying to buy a starter home. They hit a family replacing a broken water heater. They hit seniors who need a lower-cost home near their kids. Each extra cost cuts into real buying power.
Let’s zoom in on one industry: home appliances. According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, the industry drives nearly $200 billion in economic output each year. It supports 377,600 direct jobs across the United States, pays almost $60 billion in total wages, and generates more than $23 billion in tax revenue.
Sadly, tariffs have hit this vital American industry hard. Whirlpool’s earnings have fallen, and it had to suspend its dividend for the first time in seven decades. Electrolux’s sales have dropped sharply, and it has sought partners for restructuring. LG’s home appliance division also saw revenue fall in just one year.
Rheem, Electrolux, and Whirlpool have announced price hikes tied to tariffs and rising costs. At the same time, weak consumer sentiment and high energy costs have hurt sales of big-ticket goods. Layoffs have followed. Whirlpool, Electrolux, Rheem, and Lennox have announced cuts in Iowa, South Carolina, Connecticut, and elsewhere.
This matters for housing because appliances come with homes. A new home needs a stove, a washer, a dryer, a fridge, and heating and cooling systems. When those costs rise, the price of a move-in-ready home rises too. When a family cannot afford a new appliance, the cost of homeownership feels heavier.
None of this means tariffs alone caused the housing crunch. Higher interest rates, local rules, labor gaps, and low supply all play a role. But tariffs add upward pressure in a market that cannot bear much more. When seven in ten households cannot afford a $400,000 home, every dollar matters.
President Donald Trump has made it a top goal to strengthen the American economy. That means more jobs, more things made here, and lower costs for American families. The quickest way to help reach those goals would be to keep lowering tariffs on key inputs that businesses use to build and grow.
To make conditions even better, the federal government should also further cut taxes on American businesses. Lower taxes would free up cash for new tools, new plants, and new jobs. Lower tariffs would cut the price of parts and materials. Together, those moves would help Americans produce more at a lower cost.
ECONOMIC NATIONALISM IS THE OPPOSITE OF FREE-MARKET CONSERVATISM
The Trump administration took a smart first step by lowering tariffs on some key metals. Now it should keep going. If we want more homes, stronger factories, and lower prices, we must stop taxing the goods that make them possible.
Making America a manufacturing powerhouse again requires clear and simple policy: Help Americans buy, build, hire, and sell. Lowering tariffs will not solve every problem in housing or any other arena of life, but it will certainly help restore some lost buying power. For millions of families, that could mean the difference between dreaming of a home and finally walking through the front door.
Paul Teller was in the Trump-Pence White House for all four years and worked for U.S. House and Senate conservatives for over 15 years.