Shoppers to see higher prices on everything from toilet paper to candy as businesses pass on tariff costs

New York Post

16 hours ago

Shoppers at supermarkets should expect to fork over extra cash on everyday goods from toilet paper and toothpaste to chocolate bars and ketchup as companies pass on the added cost from President Trump's tariffs.
Procter & Gamble – known for its household staples – announced it will raise prices on about a quarter of its products in the US to counter a mega $1 billion tariff impact.
The higher prices will appear next month in the mid-single digit percentages, according to Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten.
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P&G sells baby care and diapers from brands like Luvs and Pampers, detergent from Tide and Gain, Bounty paper towels, Puffs tissues and Charmin toilet paper, as well as pads, tampons and razors.
5 Procter & Gamble sells Bounty paper towels.
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Hershey, which owns candy bar brands Reese's and Kit Kat, said it will be raising prices by double-digits as historically high cocoa costs and a massive tariff hit is expected to put a $180 million dent in its profit margins.
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Kraft Heinz – which sells Heinz Ketchup, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Jell-O products – said it has been forced to hike prices more than initially planned to offset a steep drop in sales as shoppers grow anxious.
Trump has imposed a 10% baseline tariff on countries with which the US had a trade surplus, while others with a deficit – about 40 nations – will pay a 15% rate. About a dozen countries will face rates higher than 15%.
Adidas warned it may hike US prices on its sneakers as it disclosed an estimated $231 million in extra tariff costs.
5 Charmin toilet paper and Pepto Bismol are owned by Procter & Gamble.
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'What I'm mostly worried about, to be honest, is not only the cost but it's what is going to be the consumer reaction in the market with all these price increases that I think will come not only in our sector, but in general in the US,' CEO Bjorn Gulden said.
The company said it has not yet decided whether to raise prices because there is so much uncertainty with Trump's tariffs in flux.
Luxury firms are planning to raise prices, like German fashion house Hugo Boss, which will release products at an even higher price point in its Spring 2026 collection.
Cheap fast-fashion sites like Shein and Temu are expected to slap higher prices on their products after Trump axed a lucrative trade loophole that allowed low-value goods to skip customs and enter the US duty-free.
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5 Kraft Heinz owns Kraft Macaroni & Cheese products.
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'There's all kinds of games companies are starting to play now as they get creative,' Rita McGrath, strategic management scholar and professor at Columbia Business School, told The Post.
Some firms are sneakily re-labeling their products – like passing off sneakers as slippers, which face lower tariffs – to avoid having to raise their prices, she said.
Others are taking advantage of bond warehouses, where imported goods can be stored without paying tariffs until the items are released for sale.
'[They're] playing this advanced game of chicken where they're saying, 'Well, maybe he [Trump] doesn't mean it this month and maybe he won't next month, so we'll import stuff and put it on ice in our warehouse and hope the tariffs go down by the time we absolutely, positively have to sell things,'' McGrath said.
5 A customer browsing Adidas sneakers at a store in New York City.
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Automakers like Germany's Porsche have already hiked prices, citing a $462 million hit from tariffs with a dire warning from CEO Oliver Blume that this 'is not a storm that will pass.'
The Volkswagen-controlled company faces a 15% tariff on imported vehicles and car parts as part of the trade deal between the US and EU.
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While lower than the 27.5% rate Trump initially threatened, it's still higher than the 2.5% duty that was in place before Trump took office.
Major Detroit automakers Stellantis – which owns Jeep, Ram and Dodge – and Ford have hiked their estimated impacts from tariffs to $1.7 billion and $3 billion, respectively.
5 Porsche said it has already hiked US prices as it faces a $462 million hit from tariffs.
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Luxury British carmaker Aston Martin said it has been increasing prices in the US since last month, while Japanese automaker Mazda estimated a $987 million hit.
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As for whether these prices will ever come down again, McGrath said, 'generally, they don't. You don't usually see price deflation once a consumer group has gotten used to paying them.'