Shoppers can expect to see higher prices at the checkout counter – on goods ranging from avocados to computers to Tonka trucks – with some hikes from the new tariffs coming as early as the end of the week, business leaders warned.
Target CEO Brian Cornell was among the first to raise the alarm after the Trump administration on Tuesday levied 25% duties on products from Canada and Mexico, as well as doubling the toll on China to 20%.
Cornell said Target relies heavily on Mexican produce during the winter months, and the tariffs could force the company to immediately raise prices on fruits and vegetables.
“Those are categories where we’ll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days,” Cornell told CNBC in an interview after Target released its fourth-quarter earnings.
“If there’s a 25% tariff, those prices will go up.”
Electronics giant Best Buy also said it’s “highly likely” that the chain will jack-up prices – but not for a few months.
“We expect our vendors across our entire assortment will pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said after reporting earnings on Tuesday.
Around 55% of Best Buy’s merchandise are sourced from China “in some way, shape, or form,” she added, and another 20% come from Mexico.
Gas prices in the Northeast, a region that relies heavily on Canadian shipments of gasoline, heating oil and diesel, could soon jump by up to 40 cents a gallon, experts said.
New England retail gasoline hovered at around $3 last week, data from the Energy Information Administration shows.
“If you’re filling up in the Northeast, you’ll see price increases first and more significantly,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Those buying toys will also have to dig deeper to put a smile on their kids’ faces, considering that 80% of all toys come from China.
Basic Fun said its new line of miniature Tonka trucks set to debut in August will now cost $6 instead of $5 a pop based on the previous guidance of a 10% tariff on goods made in China.
Meanwhile, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company’s latest line of Stretch Armstrong dolls will increase by as much as $5, to $20, according to CEO Jay Foreman.
“When the tariff was 10% we had a good understanding with our [retail and manufacturing] partners,” Foreman told The Post. “Everyone was going to shoulder the burden. But the extra 10% is too much not to be passed on to consumers.”
Foreman was among hundreds of toymakers at the annual Toy Fair at New York City’s Javits Center, which ended Tuesday.
Toy giants Mattel, the maker of Barbie, and Hasbro are also weighing price increases, possibly later in the year, according to research site GuruFocus.
The companies declined to discuss any immediate price increases when contacted by The Post.
With Post wires
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