U.S. wholesale prices surged last month – higher than economists had expected. But those same economists said it was a pretty sure bet that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs have been responsible for pushing up those costs to retailers. And it’s not a matter of “if,” but “when" those retailers will be passing down those higher prices to American consumers.
“At first, the companies were willing to eat the costs of tariffs,” said Dr. Ross Burkhart, professor and political scientist at Boise State University. “I think the profit margins are starting to wear out.”
And while some larger retailers, such as Walmart, Amazon and Target may have been able to hold out, smaller “mom and pop” businesses are being hardest hit.
“I’m afraid they just don’t have the capacity to weather that storm,” he added. "And there might be some difficulties in finding the products you are looking for to put under the Christmas tree."
Burkhart visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to give a primer (who pays what?) on tariffs and offers a forecast for a holiday shopping season that will be “quite different from previous years.”
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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