Some of the toughest new tariffs are pending, but experts say shoppers’ bills for the White House trade policy will soon arrive.
The 90-day suspension of President Donald Trump’s April 2nd tariff announcement on Wednesday, mostly 90-day Wednesday, has not changed the likelihood that consumers will pay more for many goods and services in the coming months, economists warn.
All the tariffs he announced this year will dent households’ purchasing power at an average annual average of $4,400, the Yale Budget Lab forecast on Thursday. Inflation has soaked more than expected in March, but analysts say it is likely just a temporary reprieve.
“That was good, but don’t get used to it,” Bankrate’s chief financial analyst Greg McBride said in a statement Thursday.
The president’s rapidly changing trade war has created great uncertainty for businesses around the world, threatening price stability, and his sudden new import taxes are simply delayed and not being aborted. The 10% full obligation, which came into effect this week, is still in place, as well as the massive 145% tariff on Chinese imports.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty about what’s meandering, both inflation and the economy as a whole,” McBride said.
This is where consumers can feel the most pain in their pocket.
electronics
According to UBS analysts, consumers are running around to the Apple Store to upgrade their iPhones.
Other electronic devices, from laptops to TVs, may see similar jumps. Electronic components such as computing machines, cameras, televisions and radio transmitters explain the biggest revenues from Trump’s tariff regime, according to an analysis of trade data by the non-profit research group Global Trade Alert.
Vehicles and car parts
According to Anderson Economic Group estimates, the 25% tariff on Trump’s imported vehicles is already in effect, with an additional charge of between $2,500 and $20,000 per vehicle, depending on its size and type.
Additional import taxes in the pipeline can prove inevitable for those who haven’t bought a new car, experts say. While uncertainty remains as to which auto parts will be exempt based on the US-Mexico-Canada agreement negotiated during his first term, the US recorded 63% of Thai tires from countries such as Thailand (37% tariffs) and South Korea (25% tariffs). The US has acquired almost all natural rubber from other countries. This means domestic producers will step in as well.
In other words, there’s a good chance that Auto Tuneup is trying to sacrifice more Americans.
nuts
“While domestic production of peanuts and tree nuts is rich, not all nut products can be grown in the United States,” the Peanut and Tree Nut Processor Association said in a statement last week.
This includes cashew nuts, one of Vietnam’s major exports, which hit the president on April 2nd with a 46% tariff. Shoppers also see major products on the ivory coast (where exports face 21% tariffs), as well as major Brazilian nuts from Macadamias (31%) produced in South Africa.
coffee
According to the US Agriculture Agency, the US is the second largest coffee importer in the world, with about 80% of the unroasted beans coming from Brazil and Colombia. Both countries are subject to Trump’s 10% baseline tariffs, but recent droughts in major growth regions have already pushed prices up this year.
Rice
According to the USDA, more than a quarter of the rice sold in the US are imported from countries such as Thailand (facing 36% tariffs) and India (26%). Consumers can expect to see more expensive aromatic rice, such as jasmine and basmati, as a result of the more steep import tax.
Wine and Spirit
The White House also slapped new tariffs on top US alcohol sources, including the European Union (subject to 20% tariffs), which accounts for 80% of all wines imported by the US last year.
Combined with a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods and an expansion of Trump’s aluminum mission, including importing canned beer, some households may have to consider a dry summer.
“The increased cost of living arising from the recently enacted tariffs and the resulting significant rise in wine prices will only further push consumption down,” the Wine Retailers Association said in a statement last week. The trade group said the policy is at risk “to the extent that it hurts the US wine industry and many of its participants do not recover.”
clothes
Some of the largest retailers in the United States procured apparel and footwear from Asian countries, including China, Bangladesh and Vietnam, and in recent years have become manufacturing hubs for US companies that have trade barriers in China. It appears to change once the new 46% tariffs on Vietnamese products are in effect.
These three countries are one of the top manufacturing hubs of VF Corporation, which owns brands such as Timberland, Dickey, North Face and Van. Gap, which operates Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic, sourced most of its apparel from factories in Vietnam (32%) in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (44%).
“The 2025 tariffs will have a disproportionate impact on clothing and textiles, with consumers facing 58% higher apparel prices in the short term, a researcher at Yale Budget Lab wrote.
Trade groups representing major brands, including Nike and Skechers, recently told Reuters that they threatened to price the price of $155 running shoes made in Vietnam at $220.
Toys
According to the Toy Association, almost 80% of toys sold in the US are imported from China. Trade Group president Greg Ahern told PBS in March that he predicted a 15-20% price rise for toys such as games, dolls and race cars.
That was before Trump collected 104% of Chinese goods. The Florida-based toymer who is responsible for classic playsets such as the Tonka Truck and Lincoln Log, told the New York Post Friday that it is completely suspended from shipments to the US as it is “impossible” to hand those costs to consumers.
seafood
Seafood dinners can quickly become a rare luxury. Top fish and shellfish exporters Chile and India have suffered new tariffs of 10% and 26% respectively.
“About 70-80% of the US seafood supply is imported, so it’s not the number that the US domestic industry can plug in,” said Andy Halig, executive of the Food Industry Association, last week. “So you can see that costs in the seafood sector will go up.