Tariffs have become President Donald Trump's favored economic move, prompting a lot of folks to ask what it is they even do.

Trump’s executive order on tariffs on Chinese products is a blanket 10 percent tax on everything coming in from the country. His proposed plans for Canada and Mexico are similarly broad: everything imported into the US from these countries would get a 25 percent tax applied, except for Canadian oil, which would be pegged at 10 percent.

Tariffs, tariffs, tariffs -- more and more throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, and especially since President Trump has retaken the White House, tariffs seem the be the primary economic news subject of the day.