In a wave of spending reminiscent of those 2020 days of stocking up before the pandemic lockdown takes effect, some US consumers are spending before they need to in anticipation of President-elect Trump's promised tariffs. Many economists say that the tariffs would bring higher prices for goods to Americans, the Wall Street Journal reports. "People can make a judgment that, 'Well I thought I was going to buy a TV in the next 12 months. Maybe I should buy it in the next 12 weeks,'" said Robert Barbera of the Center for Financial Economics at Johns Hopkins University.
Trump doesn't take office till next month, and the tariffs aren't enacted yet, but Gerard Szarek nevertheless is filling his 800-square-foot basement in Massachusetts with bags of coffee, bottles of olive oil, and paper towels bought in bulk. "I am taking the man at his word," the 66-year-old said. He goes to a BJ's Wholesale Club every weekend and has replaced his washer, dryer, and vehicle—to the tune of $44,000—so that he's set for the next four years. Szarek said he's also worried that Trump's plan to deport migrants will raise labor costs and bring higher prices on goods made in the US, per the Journal.
That sort of spending could push prices up, tariffs or not, economists say. One survey found that one-third of respondents say they're buying more than usual because of the possibility of tariffs, per the Journal. "If the run is big enough and the shortage is big enough," a retailer be pushed to increase prices, said Harrison Hong, an economics professor at Columbia University. The goods most likely to cost more are those now hit with low tariffs and those in categories that mostly come from China, economists say; Trump has threatened a 60% tariff on imports from China. They include machinery and electronics, per CNN. Also toys. And sports equipment. And shoes. More than half the shoes sold in the US are made in China, a trade group said. (More tariffs stories.)
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