Financial Stress Is At An All-Time High For 70 Percent Of Americans

When you don’t have enough money to pay the bills, it can make for a lot of sleepless nights.  If you are in that position right now, I want you to know that you are definitely not alone.  I have heard from so many people that are being absolutely crushed by our ongoing cost of living crisis that seems to have no end in sight.  Just about everything has become substantially more expensive over the past five years, and now the global trade war threatens to push prices for foreign-made goods into the stratosphere.

What we are experiencing at this moment is not even close to normal.  According to a new survey that was just released, financial stress is at an all-time high for 70 percent of Americans…

Americans are drowning in money worries, and it’s taking a serious toll on their mental health. A new survey reveals that 70% of Americans say their financial stress has hit an all-time high, with more than three-quarters feeling totally alone in their struggle to manage money pressures.

Even worse, this financial strain is affecting people’s overall well-being, with 20% reporting worse mental health over the past year.

The findings come from a nationwide poll of 2,000 people conducted by Talker Research for Doctor On Demand by Included Health, offering a troubling glimpse into how economic pressures are reshaping Americans’ relationship with both mental and physical health.

If 70 percent of your population is more financially stressed than they have ever been before, you have a national crisis on your hands.

Nobody can argue with that.

The wealthiest 10 percent of the country is doing just fine, but almost everyone else is really struggling right now.

Unfortunately, the cost of living crisis is about to go to an entirely new level.

According to CNBC, the very first container ships from China that are subject to the 145 percent tariff rate that was recently introduced are now arriving at U.S. ports…

The first shipping containers carrying Chinese products that are subject to President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs have begun arriving in U.S. ports.

Seven ships carrying upward of 12,000 containers that sailed from China after those tariffs took effect have arrived at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, in California. Five more such ships are scheduled to arrive there in coming days.

Amazon, Home Depot, Ikea, Ralph Lauren and Tractor Supply are among the companies with Chinese goods in these containers, spanning a wide range of consumer items.

The next time you walk into Walmart, Target or Home Depot, you may be shocked at the price hikes that you are seeing.

The good news is that the U.S. and China will be talking this weekend.

Let us hope those negotiations go well.

On Truth Social, President Trump just suggested that negotiations could potentially lead to a final tariff rate of 80 percent on Chinese goods…

President Donald Trump on Friday set negotiating terms for his administration’s first discussions with China, which are set to take place in Geneva this weekend.

In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump appeared to lay out his demands — and concessions — for the meeting between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and their Chinese counterparts. Trump said China must import more US goods, and in return, he believes the United States should lower its 145% tariff on most Chinese goods to 80%.

Other government sources are indicating that we could see the tariff rate on Chinese goods lowered to about 50 percent…

Specifically, US officials are discussing a proposal to lower President Trump’s punishing levy on China goods to between 50% and 54% as they begin what promise to be lengthy talks to hammer out a trade agreement, sources close to the negotiations said.

Meanwhile, trade taxes on neighboring south Asian countries would be cut to 25%, the source added.

“They are going to be bringing it down to 50% while the negotiations are ongoing,” the source said of the trade tax on China.

Personally, I don’t think that the Chinese will agree to any deal that includes a very high tariff rate on Chinese-made products.

But for a moment let’s assume that the Trump administration actually gets what they want.

Even a tariff rate of 50 percent would still essentially kill most trade with China.

The Chinese economy would be severely damaged, and so would the U.S. economy.

We should have never allowed our economy to become so interconnected with the Chinese economy.  Now that we have, we find ourselves in a very precarious position.

A 145 percent tariff rate on Chinese goods is suicidal, because we deeply depend on thousands upon thousands of products that are made in China.

If we can at least get some temporary tariff relief, that will be a positive sign that we desperately need, because right now orders from China are being canceled “very, very fast”…

Ahead of the talks, shipments from Chinese ports have slowed. US importers have begun to weigh whether they can afford to do business now that each shipment is subject to the 145% tariff.

“It has gone very fast, so this is the result of customers reacting very, very fast on canceling orders or stopping orders and waiting to see if this is going to resolve itself,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said on his company’s first-quarter earnings call.

If a deal with China cannot be reached, prices will go up.  In fact, we are already starting to see this happen all over the nation.

In addition, we will also see widespread layoffs.  Earlier today, we learned that Panasonic is planning to lay off approximately 10,000 workers…

Electronics maker Panasonic Holdings is cutting 10,000 jobs from its workforce.

The Japan-based company announced the job cuts on Friday as part of a broader effort to increase its profitability moving forward.

Of the 10,000 employees slated to lose their jobs, half will be workers in Japan, according to Panasonic. The other 5,000 will be in other countries.

On top of everything else, we will experience painful shortages of many items if a deal with China cannot be reached.

Our society would not be able to handle widespread shortages very well.

Even now, we are seeing a lot of desperation, panic and lawlessness in our society.  For example, CNBC is reporting that cargo theft is absolutely soaring all over America…

America’s supply chain is under attack.

From coast to coast, organized criminal groups are hitting trucks on the road, breaking into warehouses and pilfering expensive items from train cars, according to industry experts and law enforcement officials CNBC interviewed during a six-month investigation.

It’s all part of a record surge in cargo theft in which criminal networks in the U.S. and abroad exploit technology intended to improve supply chain efficiency and use it to steal truckloads of valuable products. Armed with doctored invoices, the fraudsters impersonate the staff of legitimate companies in order to divert cargo into the hands of criminals.

I think that it will soon be quite common to see armed guards accompanying trucks and trains that are transporting cargo across our country.

Our society really is coming apart at the seams all around us.

Now a period of extreme economic uncertainty is upon us, and that is going to make our societal instability a whole lot worse.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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Michael Snyder is the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, The American Dream Blog and The Truth. You can follow him on Twitter right here.