It is the kind of random digression possible with a lazy, fair chair in charge. During the August gathering of Stephens County Democrats, someone complained about paying $1 for one peach. Someone else reported buying one peach that day for $1.49.
Well, most Americans subscribe to Jim Hightower’s “Main Street, not Wall Street” view of the economy. How much does it cost? How much money do I have?
In fact, a mid-July poll conducted by the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center found that 86% of Americans found the cost of groceries a “source of stress,” 53% of the respondents calling it a “major source of stress.”
On Aug. 26, Accountable.US released findings citing President Donald Trump’s tariffs “as the primary factor for rising grocery costs … as grocers shift the added costs of Trump’s tariffs onto consumers.”
The CPI, produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reported that “meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index rose 5.2% over the last 12 months as the eggs index increased 16.4%.”
All major grocery chains have been warning of rising grocery prices since Trump announced his plan to have Americans pay increased prices for imports – first, the companies that import the products and then the consumers on the retail side.
Companies have been absorbing most of this increase so far, and Kroger fired 1,000 corporate workers on Aug. 26 to mitigate costs. But an earlier August report from Goldman-Sachs estimated that, by October, shoppers will see their share of tariff taxation rise from 22% to 67%.
In July, the Tax Foundation think tank reported: “In 2024, the U.S. imported about $221 billion in food products, 74% of which [$163 billion] faced the Trump tariffs.”
A lower court has rightly declared Trump’s tariffs illegal, but the Supreme Court has already ruled he can do whatever he wants with impunity.
Tuesday the Supreme Court agreed to fast track the Trump Administration’s appeal that the rulings of two lower courts that many of the tariffs – constitutionally designated to Congress – were illegal. If the Trump rubber-stampers actually follow the law this time, importers could receive refunds totaling $750 billion to $1 trillion – with retail consumers never getting our money back.
Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone said, “While Trump grants massive tax cuts to massive corporations and the ultra-rich, his reckless tariff policy is wreaking warrantless chaos on our economy, with grocery giants shifting market uncertainty onto consumers … It’s only the latest example of how Trump’s reckless trade policy comes at the cost of Americans’ pocketbooks.”
Unrig Our Economy Campaign Director Leor Tal agreed with her assessment: “Grocers are ringing alarm bells because they’re seeing the same shocking food price trends that thousands of Americans are tracking. …Working families are being crushed by Republican tariffs every time they check out at the grocery store.”
“Groceries?” Remember when Trump first encountered the word during last year’s campaign?
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, this man of the people discovered “groceries … a bag with different things in it.”
Again in April, the guy who thinks you need a picture ID to buy them said, “I won on groceries. Very simple word, ‘groceries.’ Like almost, you know, who uses the word. I started using the word. The groceries. When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time.”
It took Trump 78 years to learn the word. We cannot expect him to care about what groceries cost the rest of us.
And while the food costs are kicking in – and kicking our butts – Monica Torres of HuffPost documented in late August what we can expect, starting with clothing and footwear, most of which is imported.
Higher prices are also in our future for electronics, backpacks, handbags, cosmetics, home decorations, pet products, Halloween costumes, Christmas decorations and other décor.
Oh, yeah, Torres reports, “Beyond higher prices, expect more delays, too.”
When I told my sister about the high price of peaches, she said that she had bought three for $1.49 a few weeks earlier – and they were mealy and tasteless.
