News
Welcome to the News community!
Rules:
1. Be civil
Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.
2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.
Obvious biased sources will be removed at the mods’ discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted separately but not to the post body. Sources may be checked for reliability using Wikipedia, MBFC, AdFontes, GroundNews, etc.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source. Clickbait titles may be removed.
Posts which titles don’t match the source may be removed. If the site changed their headline, we may ask you to update the post title. Clickbait titles use hyperbolic language and do not accurately describe the article content. When necessary, post titles may be edited, clearly marked with [brackets], but may never be used to editorialize or comment on the content.
5. Only recent news is allowed.
Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.
6. All posts must be news articles.
No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials, videos, blogs, press releases, or celebrity gossip will be allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Mods may use discretion to pre-approve videos or press releases from highly credible sources that provide unique, newsworthy content not available or possible in another format.
7. No duplicate posts.
If an article has already been posted, it will be removed. Different articles reporting on the same subject are permitted. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.
8. Misinformation is prohibited.
Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.
9. No link shorteners or news aggregators.
All posts must link to original article sources. You may include archival links in the post description. News aggregators such as Yahoo, Google, Hacker News, etc. should be avoided in favor of the original source link. Newswire services such as AP, Reuters, or AFP, are frequently republished and may be shared from other credible sources.
10. Don't copy entire article in your post body
For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.
view the rest of the comments
I'm sure some companies did that, but do you have data suggesting that was a widespread practice? Because what I read was that lots and lots of companies tried to stock up on materials before the tariffs went into effect, so they wouldn't have to raise prices, and then many just ate the extra cost for a while - hoping the tariffs would be short lived - because they knew they would lose customers, before ultimately raising prices to cover. Many companies did lose money on the deal, according to what was reported.
But I'll read whatever you have from a reputable source.
Back in 2018, there was already evidence companies were using tariffs as cover to jack prices up beyond the tariff itself. An AEA study found washing machine prices went up almost 12%, and dryers went up about the same amount even though dryers were not tariffed. Once you include dryers and domestic brands too, prices rose by more than the tariff alone would explain.
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Faer.20190611
And this is not just old news. In a 2025 New York Fed survey, about three quarters of firms said they passed tariff costs on to customers, and some said they also raised prices on goods that were not even tariffed. The Fed’s Beige Book flat out said some of the price hikes were not just from tariffs or higher costs, but from “opportunism.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ny-fed-survey-last-month-most-firms-passed-some-tariff-surge-2025-06-04/
By 2026, the Fed was saying pass-through was basically complete. One Federal Reserve note found the tariffs put in place through November 2025 had raised core goods prices by 3.1% by February 2026. Another found both imported goods and domestic goods got more expensive after the 2025 tariff announcements.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-slow-climb-how-tariffs-gradually-raised-retail-prices-in-2025-20260305.html
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/detecting-tariff-effects-on-consumer-prices-in-real-time-part-II-20260408.html
And of course, once prices go up, companies are not eager to bring them back down. Reuters reported in February 2026 that businesses were unlikely to lower prices even after tariff relief, and were more likely to use that relief to offset other costs and chase refunds instead.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dont-bet-on-lower-prices-businesses-say-even-after-emergency-trump-tariffs-were-2026-02-24/
I know of some companies that didn't raise prices or only raised them a small amount, but all the ones I heard of were mostly small companies making specialized products and depended on the loyalty of their customers.
No. They stocked up on the product BEFORE the tariff and then raised the prices to match the upcoming costs. Ask anyone in actual retail management (not middle managers but those that buy the products and set the prices).
Any company that sold their current stock at the old price was making a rookie mistake. That's like resale 101. You can't possibly sell products for less than what it costs to replace them. If they were doing that they don't deserve to get any money back because they don't understand how to use it.
If they're able to have a lower price than their competitors, they can take so of the sales, unless they're illegally price fixing, which some likely did.
You're still saying a lot of things as absolute fact without any citation. Do you have a source for any of this?
Decades of sales experience. Retail management during COVID price hikes.
I saw this first hand. I don't need to read reports because I lived it.
But sure. Show me all the great companies that tried to keep prices low, to what, be nice to the consumer?
That ain't how things work.