Trump’s Tariffs Are Being Picked Up by Corporate America

Neither consumers nor foreign countries are assuming much of the tariff burden. At least not yet.

By Jeanne Whalen and Sarah Nassauer of The WSJ. Excerpt:

"The import price index, which tracks what importers pay for many foreign-produced goods before tariffs are levied, has held steady in recent months, in what some economists call a sign foreign suppliers aren’t broadly slashing their prices to offset costs for their U.S. customers. 

Goldman Sachs conducted what it called a more granular analysis of import prices and concluded that foreign companies, particularly those in China, appear to be absorbing around 20% of tariff costs through price cuts.

Broader hits to consumers could be on the way. In May, Walmart said that it had started raising some product prices to offset the cost of tariffs and that more price increases would come this summer. For example, in May, Walmart executives said tariffs on goods from South and Central America had lifted the price of bananas, one of the most frequently purchased items at Walmart, to 54 cents a pound, from 50 cents."

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