Here’s a potential winner from Trump tariffs: American tourists traveling a

As economists ring alarm bells over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy on consumers and the U.S. economy, there’s a group of Americans who may benefit: tourists traveling abroad.

That’s due to the impact of tariffs on the U.S. dollar and other global currencies. Economists expect tariffs imposed on foreign imports to strengthen the U.S. dollar and potentially weaken major currencies like the euro.

In such a case, travelers would have more buying power overseas in 2025, economists said. Their dollar would stretch further on purchases like lodging, dining out and guided tours that are denominated in the local currency.

“Tariffs, all else equal, are good for the U.S. dollar,” said James Reilly, senior markets economist at Capital Economics.

The Nominal Broad U.S. Dollar Index in January hit its highest monthly level on record, dating to at least 2006. The index gauges the dollar’s strength against currencies of the U.S.’ main trading partners, like the euro, Canadian dollar and Japanese yen.

Meanwhile, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) – another popular measure of the strength of the U.S. dollar – is up more than 3% since Trump’s election day win.

Trump on Thursday laid out a plan to impose retaliatory tariffs against trading partners on a country-by-country basis. Specific levies will depend on the outcome of a Commerce Department review, which officials expect to be completed by April 1.

Meanwhile, Trump has imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods. A 25% duty on all steel and aluminum imports is set to take effect March 4. Further, a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico may take force in March, after being paused for 30 days.

The Canadian dollar offers a recent example of the potential impact of a tariff, Reilly said.

On Feb. 4, when the Canadian tariffs were set to take effect, the U.S. dollar spiked to its highest level in at least a decade against the Canadian dollar, before eventually falling back when Trump delayed the duties for a month.

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A trade war with China in 2018-19 during Trump’s first term also offers insight into the impact of tariffs on currencies, J.P. Morgan global market strategists wrote in October.

The Trump administration raised tariffs on about $370 billion of Chinese goods from an average of 3% to 19% during 2018-19, and China retaliated by raising tariffs on U.S. exports from 7% to 21%, the J.P. Morgan strategists wrote.

While other factors also influenced currency moves, trade policy uncertainty “tended to bolster the dollar,” J.P. Morgan reported. The DXY index rose up to 10% during tariff announcement windows in 2018 and 4% in 2019, they wrote.