Key claims from the Trump-Harris debate fact-checked.

CLAIM: Harris: “Economists have said that that Trump sales tax would actually result for middle class families in about $4,000 more a year”.

VERDICT: Harris calls Trump’s proposed tax on imports a sales tax. Some economists have estimated that these tariffs could cost families this much. Others have lower estimates.

Trump insists the cost would be felt by foreign countries but economists believe there would be an economic cost for US importers and consumers.

The $4,000 figure comes from analysis, external – by the left-of-centre think tank the Centre for American Progress – of Trump’s pledge to increase tariffs on all imported goods to 10-20% and all goods imported from China to 60%.

They took the amount the US buys in goods from abroad annually, figured out how much the new taxes on these goods would be and divided this by the number of households in the US.

It works out at $4,600 per household, but when you look at “middle income” families you get a figure of $3,900 a year.

Other estimates are lower. The Peterson Institute, external thinks the impact would be closer to $1,700 a year (for tariffs at 10%) or $2,500 (at 20%).