Americans Are Stockpiling to Get Ahead of Tariffs

[Anonymous]

Fear of Trump tariffs is causing Americans to stockpile toilet paper, medicine, and food before prices rise

One in three consumers plans to spend more money this holiday season, and the top motivation is fear of higher tariffs under Trump, according to a survey by CreditCards.com. Nearly a third also expect to take on more debt to make their purchases.
Americans are bracing for higher prices when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House as he has pledged to impose sweeping tariffs.

https://fortune.com/2024/12/09/trump-tariffs-fear-stockpiling-toilet-paper-medication-food-inflation-price-hikes/

Americans Are Stockpiling to Get Ahead of Tariffs
Some consumers are snapping up computer parts, vacuum cleaners, coffee and olive oil before levies take effect
Tariff-conscious consumers are stockpiling goods and rushing to upgrade old cars and appliances to get ahead of potential price increases.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/tariff-price-fear-stockpile-bd418b8a

Oh no this has caught me off guard! I am off to horde some PT and other things today. Later sucker!

[Anonymous]

OMG. Taking on debt to stockpile random $hit that might be slightly more expensive.

The stupidity. It hurts.

[Anonymous]

I have stocked up on European wine and Parmesan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Taking on debt to stockpile random $hit that might be slightly more expensive.

The stupidity. It hurts.

If there is a trade war some things may become unavailable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Taking on debt to stockpile random $hit that might be slightly more expensive.

The stupidity. It hurts.

If there is a trade war some things may become unavailable.

We have been in a “trade war” for some time now.

In many cases, Chinese manufacturers will lower prices to offset the tariffs the US importers will have to pay. Consumers may see a slight increase in prices but nothing huge.

I’m not a fan of tariffs but I also know that the sky is not falling.

[Anonymous]

And why anyone voted this POS in is beyond me

[Anonymous]

I knew I'd need to replace our stove in ~the next two years so I went ahead and got it on Black Friday instead of waiting. I'm not carrying a credit card balance to fund the purchase. I don't see the downside, in fact I wish I had bought it sooner! I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a new car, too. Again, something we were going to get in the next year or so but with all this uncertainty, and the financial means to do so, why take the risk?

[Anonymous]

We aren't going into debt to do this but yes we are moving up several big purchases so we don't have to deal with potential price hikes due to tariffs.

We bought a TV, a new stand mixer, and a bunch of lightbulbs during Black Friday sales even though we originally weren't planning on buying those items until next year, because I don't want to deal with 30% price hikes on those items in 2025.

If we were considering buying a car in the next couple years, I would pull the trigger on that purchase now if I could. Even if we were planning on buying used -- we all saw how the prices of used cars shot up during Covid when demand shifted due to availability of new cars declining thanks to supply chain issues. Same thing could happen if Trump's tariffs impact the availability of car components coming from China. Or the market for used cars could jump if new cars jump in price and people can't afford them.

I wouldn't stockpile regular consumer goods any more than you normally would (we like to buy TP in bulk anyway because it's easy to store and who wants to be buying TP all the time). But big purchases? Yes, it makes sense to do those now if you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And why anyone voted this POS in is beyond me

This, a million times this.

[Anonymous]

I don't see why someone would stockpile TP or paper towels due to tariffs. Those items aren't that expensive and even a 100% tariffs would only increase the price by a couple bucks compared to the space required to store a stockpile.

I could see it for appliances, electronics or cars. Possibly coffee depending on how expensive your brand is since coffee is fairly small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Taking on debt to stockpile random $hit that might be slightly more expensive.

The stupidity. It hurts.

If there is a trade war some things may become unavailable.

We have been in a “trade war” for some time now.

In many cases, Chinese manufacturers will lower prices to offset the tariffs the US importers will have to pay. Consumers may see a slight increase in prices but nothing huge.

I’m not a fan of tariffs but I also know that the sky is not falling.

That will subject them to anti-dumping cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Taking on debt to stockpile random $hit that might be slightly more expensive.

The stupidity. It hurts.

If there is a trade war some things may become unavailable.

We have been in a “trade war” for some time now.

In many cases, Chinese manufacturers will lower prices to offset the tariffs the US importers will have to pay. Consumers may see a slight increase in prices but nothing huge.

I’m not a fan of tariffs but I also know that the sky is not falling.

Correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Taking on debt to stockpile random $hit that might be slightly more expensive.

The stupidity. It hurts.

If there is a trade war some things may become unavailable.

We have been in a “trade war” for some time now.

In many cases, Chinese manufacturers will lower prices to offset the tariffs the US importers will have to pay. Consumers may see a slight increase in prices but nothing huge.

I’m not a fan of tariffs but I also know that the sky is not falling.

lol no they are not going to lower prices. They will impose there own tariffs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see why someone would stockpile TP or paper towels due to tariffs. Those items aren't that expensive and even a 100% tariffs would only increase the price by a couple bucks compared to the space required to store a stockpile.

I could see it for appliances, electronics or cars. Possibly coffee depending on how expensive your brand is since coffee is fairly small.

They remember the last time Tump was in office.

[Anonymous]

I have thought about buying new washers and dryers and a new double oven. I think prices are going to rise a lot.