Tarek El Moussa Says ‘No One Knows the Impact’ Trump’s Tariffs Will Have on Real Estate

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Tarek El Moussa says President Donald Trump’s tariff moves will put investors and homeowners “on a level playing field”—and regardless of the trickle-down effect, he’ll still go about flipping homes.

The real estate investor and HGTV star—who stars alongside wife Heather Rae El Moussa and ex-wife Christina Haack in “The Flip Off”—spoke to Realtor.com® ahead of Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday.

“As a real estate investor, I pay attention to everything,” says El Moussa. “Because at the end of the day, what are we doing? We’re adding up math to identify a return, to make decisions whether we want to do it or not, and if the cost of materials is going up, that has to be calculated into what we’re willing to pay for a project.”

Trump has since announced sweeping tariffs, with plans to place them on trillions of dollars worth of goods that are imported into the United States.

The new tariffs, effective at midnight, include a 10% baseline tax on all imports, with proportionally higher levies on goods from countries that impose additional tariffs on U.S. goods. All imported vehicles will also face a 25% import tax, he said.

“We truly can be very wealthy. We can be so much wealthier than any country, it’s not even believable, but we’re getting smart,” Trump said at the White House Rose Garden before signing off on his plan.

Trump has said that his goal with the new tariffs is to level the playing field for U.S.-made goods and spur a renaissance for U.S. manufacturing. But some economists fear the new trade barriers could raise the cost of everyday goods and disrupt complex global supply chains.

The president has called the move “Liberation Day,” but economists and investors are warning that it may be an ambitious and risky move that will raise U.S. prices. El Moussa sees it differently.

“The truth is it’s so early on right now, nobody really knows the impact,” he says. “Nobody really knows how long it’s going to last. … But no matter what happens, it’s a level playing field because everybody is going to have the same tariffs.

“All investors will be affected the same. All homeowners will be affected the same. So this isn’t a situation where some will be affected and some won’t, and some have an advantage across the board. It’s even, and through this, there’s going to be new opportunities created.”

And as builders and homebuyers and sellers wait to see what effect the tariffs will have on the real estate market, El Moussa says one thing will never change: his approach.

“I will always stick with the same approach,” he says, “which is ‘What do the buyers want in this market? How can I build, create, deliver exactly what they want, and capitalize on it by giving them what they want?’”

“My focus is the buyer. At the end of the day, we’re selling to the buyer. So if we get the buyers what they want, we have the best odds of getting the highest price.”

Tariffs could mean ‘more job growth’

Seeing a stamp on goods marked “Made in the U.S.A.” could mean the difference between paying more or paying less. The concern surrounding tariffs is how it will trickle down to the consumers.

Tariffs are taxes that companies in the U.S. pay the federal government when they import products into the States. So if an American company makes clothing in another country and the shipment of clothes is delivered to the U.S., that company needs to pay customs at the port of entry before it can be sold in stores.

The same would apply to any building materials (such as lumber), appliances, or furniture gathered or manufactured by a U.S. company in another country and delivered back to the U.S. Tariffs must be paid upon entry before it can be sold to consumers.

El Moussa says even though the added tariff could pass on more costs to consumers, he says it will create opportunities in a different way—and the move may force U.S. companies to bring manufacturing back.

“More job growth in the U.S., strengthening our economy, bringing companies back to U.S. land,” El Moussa insists. “So there’s a lot of good things that could happen. But again, we don’t know because it’s not there yet. It’s just starting.”

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