U.S. companies delivered an unwelcome message to inflation-weary consumers: Prices are going up.
Hormel Foods, J.M. Smucker, and Ace Hardware announced this week that they would raise prices for reasons ranging from higher meat costs to tariffs. Walmart, Target, and Best Buy said some tariff-related price increases are already in place, with more coming.
Household staple product prices expected to increase
“Some vendors are clearly communicating cost increases. Other vendors are adjusting promotions. Some are planning to potentially increase prices with new product introductions, which always happens,” Best Buy Chief Executive Corie Barry said. Price increases are still far below the overall tariff rate, she added.
These rising costs demonstrate how President Trump’s trade policies are affecting American consumers. The announcements represent yet another round of sticker shock for consumers who are already worn down by inflation when they purchase household goods and groceries. Although job growth has slowed and inflation has decreased recently, many consumers are concerned that tariffs may drive up prices even further.
According to 52-year-old James Paternoster of Queens, New York City, the cost of beef at his neighborhood supermarket last week was double what it was a few years ago. “I couldn’t believe how fast it went up,” Paternoster said. “I’m not buying this little piece of meat for this.”
Price Competition
This year, retailers and manufacturers of consumer goods have been working hard to find ways to maintain competitive prices or to absorb a large portion of the costs associated with the tariff.
Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, stated last week that price increases linked to tariffs have not yet increased significantly. “But as we replenish inventory at post-tariff price levels, we’ve continued to see our costs increase each week, which we expect will continue into the third and fourth quarters.”
Ace Hardware executives announced this week that tariff-related price increases will soon be implemented in thousands of stores nationwide. Ace intends to pass on the higher purchasing costs to its stores, who will then pass those increases on to customers, as a result of tariffs.
The Trump administration’s 50% tariff on some imports from Brazil, one of the biggest coffee producers in the world, has caused J.M. Smucker, the company behind Folgers and Jif peanut butter, to announce that it will keep raising the prices of its coffee products. Additionally, in May, Smucker announced that it would raise prices once more this month.
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