Professor sheds light on tariffs at Jackson Chamber of Commerce presentation

JACKSON, Mo. (KBSI) – A discussion on tariffs was held at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce to educate the public on tariff policies and more.

David Yaskewich is a SEMO Professor of Economics and led the presentation.

The presentation was held at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce this morning March 21, 2025.

Attendees had opportunities to ask questions and learn about current tariff policies.

Semo Economics Professor David Yaskewich gave a presentation on the complex relationship between tariffs and global trade policies.

“We discussed the trade policy for the United States” says Yaskewich. “There has been a lot of announcements and some actions, and some pull back of actions. We were doing a score keeping on where were currently at and our tariff rates for some of our trading partners.” 

Yaskewich went over important trade policies dates such as when Donald Trump announced the 25% tariff increase in March, and effects we could see from tariffs and free trade policy. Such as more trade variety, lower/higher prices to consumers, and global competition. 

“So, in the terms of learning more about our trade policy and learning more about our tariff policy I would recommend keeping up with news stories, a lot could happen in a week” says Yaskewich. “Theres been quite a bit of tariff policies that were announced and were later pulled back so keeping up with the most recent status of trade policy would be important to make any decisions.” 

 Yaskewich says that tariffs in the US is uncharted territory, and he encourages everyone to learn about tariffs policies through up-to-date information and professionals.

“People who save for retirement and have retirement plans I would strongly encourage them to discuss the impacts on tariffs with a financial advisor before making any decisions.”