Retailers have taken to warning customers to buy products now before the expected price hikes that could come when Donald Trump takes office and puts the sweeping tariffs he has promised into place. Companies ranging from Julie Skin, a beauty brand, to outdoor goods retailer Tarptent to Finally Home Furnishings have all sounded the alarm, according to an analysis from The Wall Street Journal . The beauty brand warned customers might face 25 percent higher prices on signature products like a filtered showerhead, while the furnishing company launched a “Pre-Tariff Sale” on Facebook.
“There is a misconception that the countries exporting goods will bear the cost of the tariffs, but that is simply not true,” owner Sydney Arnold told the paper. On the campaign trail, Trump suggested tariffing China as much as 60 percent, while levying across-the-board, double-digit tariffs on all other goods entering the U.S.
This week, Trump threatened another suite of tariffs, this time on Mexico, China, and Canada , in what the president-elect said was a move to stop immigration and drug-smuggling. The threat immediately sent world leaders and businesses scrambling, given that China is the main supplier of imports to the U.S.
, Canada is the main explorter of crude oil to the U.S., and major U.
S. automakers have plants and suppliers in Mexico. A Goldman Sachs researcher warned this round of tariffs would have “significant consequences” on consumers, as companies raised prices to comp.