After a lag, US consumers begin to feel tariff pinch
Many businesses chose to absorb the additional tax during the early days of President Donald Trump's trade war. But evidence is emerging that they are running out of options to keep prices stable in the face of deteriorating profit margins, suggesting that the tariffs could have a more pronounced effect on prices in the months ahead.
US govt data, including from the commerce department this past week, shows that prices rose in June on items heavily exposed to tariffs, such as home furnishings, toys and appliances.
And in recent days - before Trump announced tariffs for much of the world Thursday night - Adidas, Procter & Gamble, Stanley Black & Decker and other large corporations told investors that they either had increased prices or planned to do so soon to offset the tariff costs.
Companies like Walmart and toymakers Hasbro and Mattel had already warned that tariffs would lead to higher prices.
"We have no interest in running a lower-margin business, particularly due to tariffs," Richard Westenberger, the chief financial officer of Carter's, a children's apparel maker, said on a call with analysts July 25.
Sarah House, an economist at Wells Fargo, said the next three to six months would be "crunchtime," as more tariff rates solidified.
Trump and his advisers have maintained that foreign countries will eat the tariffs. But so far, while there are some signs that the exporters are swallowing the additional cost, most of it is being passed on to American importers, according to department of labour data on import prices.
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Indian Express
a minute ago
- Indian Express
Amid curbs on H1B and student visas, more Indians are lining up for US investment visas
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'In the first four months of FY2025 (October 2024-January 2025), Indian applicants filed more than 1,200 I-526E petitions across reserved categories — more than any prior full year,' Nicholas Mastroianni III, president and CMO of USIF, told The Indian Express, referring to the application forms. Experts said another factor fuelling EB-5 filings could be a record backlog in other immigration categories, including H1-B and green card. According to estimates, more than 11 million US immigration applications are pending with the authorities. So, EB-5 has become the fastest and most assured route to US permanent residency, they said. Data accessed by The Indian Express from Washington-based Invest In the USA (IIUSA), an overarching trade association for the EB-5 regional centre programme, show that 1,428 EB-5 visas were issued to Indians in FY2024 (October 2023 to September 2024), as against 815 in the previous year. Between 2014 and 2021, the figures were minuscule, at 96 in 2014, and under 200 EB-5 visas until 2017. Created by the US Congress in 1992, the EB-5 programme is a pathway to green cards to immigrants who make a minimum investment of $1,050,000 (Rs 9 crore), or $800,000 (Rs 6.88 crore) in economically distressed zones called Targeted Employment Areas (TEA), to create jobs for Americans, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website. It allows the investor, their spouse and unmarried children under 21, to immigrate to the US. However, changes were brought to the programme in 2022, introducing both flexibility for investors and stronger audit checks on sources of income. Following this, experts said, filings from high net worth Indian citizens looking for US residency increased manifold. Between October 2024 and March 2025, 649 Indian nationals were issued EB-5 visas via consular processing — a strong indication that a large number of Indian filings from the financial year 2022–2023 have matured, Mastroianni said. The path is also becoming popular in the adjustment of status category, among those already in the US on non-immigrant status. 'Students and individuals on H-1B visas currently represent the primary group seeking lawful means to remain in the US with the ability to work,' said Sukanya Raman, country head, Davies & Associates, LLC, an immigration law firm. 'Indian nationals currently in the US on non-immigrant status such as H-1B or student visa and who file under the new provisions benefit from automatic issuance of work and travel permits within 3-6 months from the time of filing I-526E petition typically which remain valid until their EB-5 green card is approved,' said Raman. 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Mastroianni said that contrary to assumptions, there has been a surge in demand for EB-5 after the announcement of the Gold Card programme. 'We are witnessing one of the most promising surges in EB-5 interest from Indian families in recent history. The uncertainty surrounding future visa programmes like the proposed Gold Card, combined with heightened scrutiny of traditional student and work visa routes, has pushed many investors to act now — not later. What's changed is not just demand, but decisiveness,' he said. 'With the spectre of visa retrogression looming and the current ability to file concurrently from within the US, families are prioritising stability, permanence, and long-term security. EB-5 is no longer seen as an alternative — it's become the preferred strategy,' Mastroianni said. Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
3 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
US trade talks to stick to terms agreed earlier
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India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
White House officials defend Trump's firing of BLS chief over job data shake-up
Donald Trump administration's top economic advisers on Sunday stood by the US president's decision to fire Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), amid increasing criticism that the move could erode confidence in official US economic to CBS' Face the Nation, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the president had "real concerns" over the reliability of employment figures released by the BLS. Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, told Fox News that the decision is president is right to call for new leadership," Hassett said. "I think what we need is a fresh set of eyes at the BLS, somebody who can clean this thing up." At the centre of the controversy is the BLS report issued Friday, which revised previous job growth estimates downward. The report showed that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than initially ACCUSES BLS OF FAKING JOB NUMBERSPresident Trump accused McEntarfer of "faking the jobs numbers," although he has not provided any evidence to support the claim of data Bureau of Labor Statistics plays a critical role in shaping economic policy, compiling monthly employment data along with consumer and producer price the statement, the BLS attributed the downward revisions to routine updates: "Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors."McEntarfer responded to her dismissal in a post on the Bluesky social media platform, calling it "the honour of her life" to serve as BLS commissioner. She also praised the civil servants at the economists and former government officials raised alarms over the firing, warning that it could damage the credibility of the country's statistical agencies. Former BLS Commissioner William Beach, now co-chair of the advocacy group Friends of the BLS, called Trump's action "deeply troubling.""It undermines credibility," Beach said on CNN's State of the Union. "There is no way for a commissioner to rig the jobs numbers. These numbers get revised every year. During Trump's first term, we had a 500,000 job revision, and that was normal."Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary under President Clinton and economic adviser to President Obama, also weighed in."This is a preposterous charge," Summers said on ABC's This Week. "These numbers are put together by teams of literally hundreds of people following detailed procedures that are in manuals. The idea that one person could manipulate this is absurd."JOB NUMBERS SLASHED BY 125,000According to news agency Reuters, behind every job report are thousands of business owners, payroll officers, and civil servants trying to paint an accurate picture of the economy. Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reaches out to around 121,000 employers -- from local shops to federal agencies -- asking how many people they had on their payrolls during a specific not everyone answers right away. Some responses arrive late, and others require follow-ups. That's why the BLS regularly revises its numbers over the next two months, aiming for a fuller, more precise snapshot. By the third month, the response rate usually improves to around 92%.Still, the latest revision stood out. On Friday, the agency slashed its earlier estimate for May by 125,000 jobs — a drop that ranks amongst the largest in the past four decades. According to BLS data, outside the extreme disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the biggest downward revision from a second to a third estimate since March 1983.- EndsTune InTrending Reel
