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Topics: Donald Trump, Food and Drink, Money, US News, Shopping
An economist has revealed what you should be shopping for and stocking up on amid US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs.
The 78-year-old Republican leader declared April 2 to be ‘Liberation Day’ after signing a new Executive Order (E.O.) declaring the United States’s ‘economic independence’.
Trump’s latest E.O., titled Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits, promised tariffs would be imposed on goods coming into the country.
A baseline 10 percent tariff, set to begin on April 5, 2025, has been applied universally to imports from all countries, except Canada and Mexico.
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Meanwhile, 60 countries with ‘unfair trade practices’ will now face a ‘reciprocal’ duty of up to 50 percent from April 9. This will affect countries such as Cambodia, Bangladesh and Thailand.
In the wake of the White House Rose Garden address, Dr. Sung Won Sohn, an academic at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, has revealed some items you should purchase ASAP ahead of the tariff start dates.
These include a popular brunch item, cars made outside of the US, building materials and more.
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“We import 80% of avocados that we consume in America and those are perishable items, so they will be more expensive immediately,” Dr. Sung Won Sohn explained to The New York Post.
Therefore, if your brunch go-to is avocado on toast, you might want to head down to your local store ASAP.
On Thursday (April 3), Trump’s 25 percent levies on all cars not assembled in the US came into play.
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Introduced as part of the Republican’s bid to revive American manufacturing jobs, the tariffs come ahead of more duties on May 3.
Next month, auto parts such as engines and transmissions also be subjected to a 25 percent tariff.
According to Sohn, it could take weeks or even months for the tariffs on foreign-made cars to be passed along as there’s already an existing inventory that needs to be emptied out.
“They have inventory so as a result prices don’t have to go up right away,” he told the publication.
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So, if you really want that Land Rover, it’s best to splurge on it now before it’s too late.
According to Sohn, your morning grab-and-go coffee could get a whole lot more expensive when the Trump tariffs come into play.
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This is because the US doesn’t produce coffee domestically, meaning it will be imported and thus more expensive.
Other common breakfast items such as tea and bananas are also likely to see a price hike.
If you’ve got big house plans coming up in the next year then the good news—you still have a little bit of time before you start feeling the pinch.
According to Ryan Monarch, assistant professor of economics at Syracuse University, imported lumber, steel and aluminium are all going to be more expensive due to the new tariffs.
However, it could reportedly take up to six months for those price hikes to start coming into play.
Sohn said that heavy machinery prices are unlikely to be affected anytime soon because of their rich inventory.
“Those items are in stock and I don’t think their prices would be affected right away,” he said.