BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – Some economists say it’s possible there could be positive long-term impacts of the tariffs from the Trump administration, but they agree in the short-term, it’s likely to have a more negative impact.

“Most economists are anticipating price increases for these added costs,” said UAB Assistant Professor of Economics Ben Meadows.

Meadows says when tariffs are put on imported goods, consumers end up paying the price.

“Producers are trying to make a profit. They won’t produce something if they’re not making a profit,” Meadows said. “So say you’re a grocery store and you’re importing produce and that produce is now a certain percentage more expensive, you as the producer, the grocery store, the importer, you’re not going to eat that cost because you don’t have that margin, so your only choice is to increase the price to cover your margin, which then gets passed on to the consumer who just walks into a grocery store and notices the price is more expensive.”

Some people around Birmingham say they’re concerned about the effects these tariffs will have on them, especially with the cost of living as high as it is right now.

“It’s such an abrupt blow to everyone, and people are sidetracked,” one Birmingham woman said. “Supermarket, everyday stuff, everyday items, because we all buy them, we all need them.”

However, other people aren’t as concerned.

“I’m sure it will come down the pipeline eventually, everything does you know?” Birmingham resident Jason Miller said. “But I think once I can’t actually go to the grocery store, that’ll probably affect it a little bit more but right now it’s not affecting day to day.”

“I’m a little nervous about everything that’s going on, but like I said, just feel like there’s something, there’s a grand scheme of things kind of plan,” Hueytown resident Rachel Cater said.

Some economists say the U.S. has been largely in a free trade environment for a while.

“If a particular country is better suited to make a particular good because of where they are geographically, environment, whatever, then they should make those goods and we should make the goods that we’re better suited for, and if everybody does that, we’re all better off if it’s sort of a free trade environment,” said Shawn Mobbs, the Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at the University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Business. “While the tariffs will give an advantage to domestic companies, to the degree that we all in our day-to-day lives use products that come from other countries, we’re going to have an impact. It’s going to be a little bit more costly for us to purchase those items.”

But some consumers are skeptical of how much domestic manufacturing the tariffs will bring.

“The amount of time it would take for all the industries in the United States to catch up and do something, as far as manmade or goods that are made here in the United States,” a Birmingham man said.

Local economists say there are still a lot of uncertainties surrounding the tariffs and their long-term effects, including how long it will be before we see those impacts.