![]() ![]() SELYUKH: This kind of reshuffling has been happening across many products, including clothes, pencils, furniture. PRAKKEN: For example, China and Vietnam both fish in the same waters for the fish that we get from that part of the world, and so Vietnam trade with the U.S. JOEL PRAKKEN: And that's, of course, one of the problems with bilateral trade battles, is it's like whack-a-mole. Many stay put or switch to other foreign countries. But few companies have actually been able to do that. ![]() To the White House, the goal of tariffs is to make Chinese imports more expensive so that American companies move production and jobs back to the U.S. In the first few waves, the Trump administration specifically targeted industrial materials and parts rather than consumer products to avoid shocking Americans with price hikes. SELYUKH: In fact, shoppers are only starting to feel tariffs. And ultimately, prices are going to have to continue to go up. The plastic, fabric and metal that go into making pets crates, bowls and collars have been hit by new tariffs.īOBER: What we're finding is that, really, throughout the entire lifecycle of pet care products, everyone is feeling the pinch on this. SELYUKH: Mike Bober is the head of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council. But unfortunately, it's becoming more and more necessary. MIKE BOBER: They don't want to have to pass these costs along to pet owners. Take, for example, makers of pet products, like a dog leash in our NPR basket. Every company that imports anything from China is now making this calculation. They can spread the new costs around the whole store or absorb them and even pressure the brands and manufacturers to bear more of the burden. They get the final say on the prices that you see. And retailers, like Walmart, are powerful. They want to get shoppers into stores, not scare them away. SELYUKH: That's because makers and sellers don't like raising prices. It's even possible that it remains $29 or even go below. ![]() It doesn't necessarily mean that if you are purchasing, let's say, a piece of clothing that was, like, $29, now you're going to have to pay 30. SELYUKH: Emily Wang is an economist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. That's almost double the current rate of inflation.ĮMILY WANG: These things really are pretty complex, and it's very hard to forecast how the prices will change. Prices go up and down for lots of reasons - for example, costs of transportation and labor.īut overall, when we looked at the prices inside our tariff-inspired shopping cart, we found that, on average, the change we saw was an increase of more than 3%. That's because TVs and electronics get cheaper every year. For example, the two most expensive things we tracked - a Vizio TV and a Hamilton Beach microwave - they are made in China, but they got cheaper. Many of the prices did not change a few actually went down. The makers of all these items did not comment on our specific products, but some of them confirmed that tariffs have pushed them to raise prices, though overall - and this is a big takeaway - the impact of tariffs proved uneven. SELYUKH: That bike, made by Kent, is now 6% more expensive. SELYUKH: Which of these bikes do you like the most? We've also been tracking a girl's bicycle, chosen with the help of an expert. Sylvania light bulbs, fresh garlic and a Stanley screwdriver are more expensive, too. A set of two table lamps by Better Homes and Gardens now costs 10% more. Some prices in our shopping cart climbed significantly, at least in part because of the tariffs. SELYUKH: Now it's a year later, and here's what we found. I don't think I've ever spent this much time in a grocery store ever in my life. We started tracking prices of about 80 items at this Walmart. SELYUKH: We begin with the first tariffs the White House imposed last year on imports from China and some from Mexico and Canada. ![]() NORSWORTHY: That's going to be on aisle 23. NORSWORTHY: Orange juice is right behind you. SELYUKH: Our goal was to track how the trade war with China might trickle down to shoppers at America's biggest retail store chain. Producer Charlotte Norsworthy and I walked every aisle of a Walmart in Liberty County, Ga. So did that end up happening? Since August 2018, NPR's Alina Selyukh has been tracking prices at a single Walmart in the state of Georgia, and she has this story.ĬHARLOTTE NORSWORTHY, BYLINE: Let's go right. and China started last year, economists have been warning that it is going to hit Americans in the wallet - that we're going to end up paying higher prices for some products. Ever since the trade war between the U.S. ![]()
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