Tariffs will raise prices for Americans but total impact is hard to predict
Mar 4, 2025, 1:00 PM | Updated: 2:55 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Americans will start seeing higher prices on several goods after tariffs on Mexico and Canada went into effect on Tuesday, but a local economist says the total impact will take time to understand.
Robert Spendlove, senior economist with Zions Bank, told Dave & Dujanovic some retailers have already said they’d be raising prices on certain items.
“Just this morning, Target was talking about it and they said they’re going to start raising prices on strawberries, bananas, avocados. Home Depot said we’re going to see higher prices on lumber.”
Electronics from China and fuel from Canada will also be impacted, Spendlove said.
“There’s really kind of a broad swath of where we’ll see the price impacts at home.”
Why is it hard to calculate the price impact of tariffs?
Spendlove said retailers can switch supply chains so they aren’t affected by the tariffs, but it takes time.
“It takes time to build a new factory. It takes time to hire a new workforce. It takes time to change those supply chains. And that will eventually be the response, but is it possible to transition that way quickly?”
Consumers will have the same issue. They might be able to substitute or avoid certain goods like fruit, but it’ll be harder to make a swap on other things, like lumber.
Furthermore, Spendlove said, more tariffs are on the way.
“[Trump’s] announced additional tariffs on April 2. So that’s when they do the reciprocal tariffs pretty much across the board and then an additional 25% tariff on steel, aluminum, cars, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, copper, and lumber. And so it’s just going to keep adding on more and more.”
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