SAN ANTONIO -- A local economist is weighing in on the proposed Trump tariffs. Right now, he says, it's just rhetoric.

Citing strategy laid out in Trump's first book, "The Art of a Deal," Thomas Tunstall, senior research director for the Center for Community and Business Research at UTSA, said this could be a negotiation tactic - you go in with severe demands and then come out with a better deal. 

Or the tariffs go into effect with negative consequences.

"The irony is that, while certainly Toyota would be affected here, every vehicle from every manufacture uses imported parts - Ford, Chevrolet and General Motors and all of the large companies - their supply chain is worldwide," Tunstall said. 

Tunstall thinks the president's goal is to get more manufacturing in the U.S., which would be a long-term goal.

But in the short term products prices may go up and there may be job losses.