Middlemen for overseas manufacturers are not typically what comes to mind when I hear “wealthy fat cats.” If all the middlemen see the same increase in costs,

Middlemen for overseas manufacturers are not typically what comes to mind when I hear “wealthy fat cats.” If all the middlemen see the same increase in costs, they are not going to be the one to try to keep prices the same. They know everyone is taking the same hit so they can just pass it along together. The consumer decides to buy or not at that level. The innovation comes in avoiding the tariff. Often companies with sufficient scale of operations can pay additional lawyers and accountants to restructure and avoid tariffs. Tariffs can dramatically affect specific companies, but squishy middlemen (and multinationals) can often work around them.