New York – The duplication of President Donald Trump of tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum could affect Americans in an unexpected place: groceries.
He Announcement on Friday of an amazing 50% tax In these imports, the fear that the purchases of large tickets are from car washing machines to houses could see large price increases. But those metals are so omnipresent in the packaging that they are likely to push a blow to consumer products, from soup to nuts.
“The increase in prices of groceries would be part of the domain effects,” says Usha Haley, a trade expert and professor at Wichita State University, who added that tariffs could increase costs in all industries and strive more with allies “without helping a long -term United States manufacturing revival.”
Trump’s return to the White House has arrived With a unmatched alluvion of ratesWith threatened, added And often carried, In such an inductive frenzy of cervical whiplash it is difficult to keep up. He insisted that the last rate of rates was necessary to “further ensure the steel industry in the United States”
However, that promise could disagree with its promise to reduce food costs.
Increased prices of groceries, said Trump, They were among the main reasons why the voters balancing Your path. A look around a supermarket makes clear how many products could be affected by new taxes on steel and aluminum, from beer and soda to dog food to bean can, fruits, tomato paste and more.
“It is played in the hands of China and other foreign canned food producers, who are more than happy to undermine American farmers and producers,” insists the president of the Institute of Manufacturers, Robert Budway. “Duplicating the steel rate will further increase the cost of canned products in the groceries.”
Budway says that the production of national tin tin steel producers, whose products are used in cans, have decreased dramatically in recent years, which makes manufacturers depend on imported materials. When these prices rise, he says: “The cost applies to millions of American families.”
Food companies were already cautiously evaluating administration tariffs before the last walk, which Trump said it would be valid on Wednesday. Campbell Co., whose soup cans are a basic element for millions of Americans, has said he was working to mitigate the impact of rates, but may be forced to increase prices. Conagra brands, which put everything from Reddi-Whip cans to cooking aerosols such as PAM on supermarket shelves, has also pointed out the impact that steel and aluminum rates have.
“We cannot obtain all our materials in the United States because there is no supply,” said Conagra’s financial director David Marberger, at a recent Goldman Sachs conference on Global Staples.
Beyond obvious products (canned foods such as tuna, chicken broth and blueberry sauce, economists warn about an indirect effect that tariffs can have in a range of items. If the cost of building a store or buying a truck to obtain food increase, product prices can follow.
Most Americans will never buy a tractor, but Babak Hafezi, who directs a global consulting firm and teaches international businesses at the American University, says that a price increase in such a large article for food production will spill on all kinds of other articles.
“If a tractor John Deere costs 25% more, consumers pay the price,” says Hafezi. “This drips through the economy and impacts all aspects of the economy. Part of the drip is immediate and others are slower to demonstrate. But yes, prices will increase and elections will decrease.”
Trump appeared before a multitude of steel workers to present the new rates in a rally on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. In a statement, David McCall, president of the International Union of Workers Steel in United, described the rates “a valuable tool to balance the scale”, but “broader reforms of our global commercial system” are needed.
It may be more difficult to measure the weight of tariffs on, for example, a can of chickpeas versus that of a new car, but it is likely that consumers see innumerable indirect costs of the encumbrances, says Andreas Waldkirch, economy professor at Colby College that teaches a class on international trade.
“Anyone who is directly connected to the steel industry will benefit. It only has a very high cost,” says Waldkirch. “It is possible that you get some more steel works. But all these indirect costs mean that it then destroys the work elsewhere. If you added everything, it comes up with a fairly large negative loss.”
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You can contact Matt Sedensky at mSeDensky@ap.org and https://x.com/sedensky