US tariffs drive up household costs, squeezing working, middle-class American families

WASHINGTON: Tariffs imposed by the U.S. government on imports from countries such as China, Mexico, and Canada are squeezing household budgets, leaving working and middle-class American families struggling to afford everyday essentials.

AI Brief

New tariffs have led to noticeable increases in everyday costs, especially groceries and fuel.
Consumers are shopping at wholesale stores and cutting back on non-essentials to cope.
Experts say tariffs hurt poorer American families more, as they spend a larger share of income on basic needs.

In recent months, the return and expansion of tariffs have contributed to noticeable price hikes across a wide range of imported goods, including some of the most essential commodities like groceries and fuel.

As a result, consumers are changing their shopping habits, turning to wholesale retailers and cutting back on non-essential purchases.

"Of course I'm worried, like we work really hard for everything we work for, and then just to come over here and obviously have to adjust certain things to get. We obviously see the increase of prices on everything," said Gabriel Garcia, a Los Angeles resident.

A study from the Budget Lab at Yale University found that the cost of fresh produce alone initially rose by 5.4 percent due to the tariffs, with prices stabilizing at 3.9 percent higher in the long term.

Experts warn that these increases disproportionately affect lower-income households, which spend a greater share of their income on basic necessities.

"Poor people tend to spend almost all of their income because they can't afford to do a lot of savings and as you go up and up that income ladder, more and more of income gets saved and the part that saved isn't bearing the burden of the tariff. And hopefully the tariffs will be gone by the time someone gets around to using their savings down the road. But in the meantime, we have got this effect where the share of the income that you're spending on the tariffs is going be much higher for a poor person than for a rich person," said Prof. Kimberly Clausing, a professor of tax law and policy at UCLA School of Law.