Why would garlic prices rise 53% if the tariffs are only 30%?
Are there really no other factors at play?
Are there really no other factors at play?
One purely theoretical explanation is demand elasticity - if you can sell 20 items at 3$ now your costs increase to 5$ - you can sell 10 items at 5$ but 8 at 10$ it makes sense to sell at 10$ - not saying that's the case with garlic - but it explains how a 30% cost increase could cause higher price increase.
Adding a 30% tax means that if you draw a line down from the new equilibrium point to zero price, that line will cross the original supply curve at 30% of the way down. But the new equilibrium point may also be at a different (likely lower) quantity, where the demand curve could have a different slope.
For a perfect commodity, where the supply curve is nearly flat, the percentage tax has the effect of raising that flat line higher. A 30% tax raises prices 30% higher. The shape of the demand curve only determines the reduction in trade volume.
For a fixed-supply good, where the supply curve is completely vertical, the price remains exactly the same, and the tax is paid entirely by the supplier. The shape of the demand curve isn't very relevant.
If the demand curve is perfectly vertical, consumers pay all the tax, and quantity remains the same.
In order for an x% tax to produce an x+y% increase in price, there has to be some other effect in play. The demand curve has a positive slope, as with a Veblen good. The demand curve shifts upward or rightward, as though the tax serves as advertising. A 30% tariff on similar goods or general inflation produced a substitution effect that drove more people to demand garlic.
Pure demand elasticity can't account for it all.
What factors do you have in mind, and how do they relate to the goal of the trade wars?
The real reason for the remaining increases are probably a combination of domestic Chinese pressures and the inflation machine Obama started and Trump has only continued both starting to grip and people are starting to notice as articles like this point out things that have been going on for a decade now.