Tariff Worries Feed Shopping Frenzy for Some

 

Reuters reports how many consumers in the United Staes are stocking up on many basics in anticipation of any future shortage caused by an emerging trade war.

In New Jersey, pushing a shopping cart down the aisle of a Walmart, Thomas Jennings, 53, loaded up on juices, condiments and whatever he could think of.

"I'm buying double of whatever - beans, canned goods, flour, you name it," he said. His strategy is to stock up as much as possible before the Trump administration's latest round of import tariffs takes effect on Wednesday.

Earlier at Costco Jennings bought flour, sugar and water in bulk. "There's a recession coming and I am preparing for the worst," he said.

Like a growing number of U.S. shoppers, Jennings believes retail prices will soon rise because of Trump's tariffs.

The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group, said the new levies will cost Americans $3.1 trillion over the next 10 years, amounting to a roughly $2,100 tax increase per household in 2025 alone.

Even as many shoppers take a wait-and-see approach, some fear that any panic would trigger a stockpiling frenzy that intensifies on expectations of even worse inflation, they told Reuters.

Manish Kapoor, founder of GCG, a supply chain management firm outside Los Angeles, said the tariffs are reawakening fears of empty store shelves encountered during the pandemic, when supply chain disruptions led to product shortages and inflation.

SOURCE: REUTERS