The real costs of Trump’s tariffs

All right, we are in the middle of a full blown trade war. We don’t know the degree to which Donald Trump is playing a very high stakes game of chicken, hoping every other country will blink first and Trump can pull back the tariffs or what he is up to, but it is shaking up the markets, both domestically and globally, and there are a bunch of things that are going to get significantly more expensive that I want to talk about today. Let me start with vehicles. Some assume you only need to worry if you have a gas powered vehicle or are looking to buy one. Others, assume you only need to worry about Trump’s tariffs if you have an electric vehicle, because Trump might get rid of the $7,500 electric vehicle federal tax credit. The reality is, no matter what kind of vehicle you’re looking at, if you’re planning to buy a car anytime soon, you may want to do it sooner than later. And the reason why has everything to do with the reality that in Canada and in Mexico, either parts components like an engine made up of many different parts or final assembly of vehicles is taking place. And so whether it’s an electric vehicle or not, whether it requires gasoline or not, you are going to see prices go up with tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Now there are further concerns with the electric vehicles, it is absolutely the case that Trump doesn’t seem super thrilled about the $7,500

tax credit on electric vehicles that may soon go if you’re looking to get an electric vehicle, you might want to do it before that tax credit is gone. On the other hand, almost certainly the cost of gasoline is going to go up. We import a bunch of oil from Canada, oil, which we then refine into gasoline with the new tariffs on Canadian energy, you can bet that gas prices are going to go up. Doesn’t sound like winning for the average consumer. Let’s talk a little bit about eggs. Now. Why eggs? Because it’s been Maga talking about them, I, you know, I eat five eggs a week. It’s not the most important thing to me. Even if that price is doubled, I don’t eat so many eggs that it really makes a difference. But for a lot of Americans, it does. And one of the things we’ve seen is that since Donald Trump took office, the price of eggs has hit a record high. The USDA is predicting egg prices will be even more expensive later in 2025

Can you stockpile eggs? I don’t know exactly how long eggs last. I think in the fridge they last a while, not giving anybody specific advice, but it’s certainly something I would consider. Avocados from Mexico. Can you freeze avocados? My research tells me, if you scoop out the flesh, you can and put it in an airtight container, you can freeze it, not necessarily recommending it. Don’t know how good it’s going to be, but it’s something you could do. Avocados from Mexico are going to get more expensive with the tariffs on Mexico. If you’re looking to build a home or expand a home do in addition a renovation, we get 5/6 of our lumber from Canada that is going to get more expensive. Who do you think will pay when the lumber gets more expensive for the construction company, you will pay if you’re building a house or doing a renovation or an expansion, maybe you want to start dealing with those raw materials now, before prices go up and then it’s a bunch of other things, sugar and maple syrup are going to get more expensive. Nuts are going to get more expensive, cooking oil, some of this stuff has a long shelf life, so maybe it’s worth considering stocking up. Now, of course, what’s the downside we remember from COVID? Remember when people anticipated during COVID, there won’t be paper towels, there won’t be toilet paper, there won’t be hand sanitizer. I should go and buy it now. And what happens when you do that? The supply chain is disrupted. These supply chains can’t react overnight, and so if all of a sudden people are home instead of at work, where the you know, the toilet paper delivery for work offices is different than the supply chain for the stuff you buy off Amazon target or at the grocery store, all the sudden people started scooping up toilet paper. There was none in the stores. There was panic. It shot the price through the roof. The supply chain couldn’t keep up. So on the one hand, if you’re anticipating price increases on things that are shelf stable, it’s logical to go into accumulate some on the other hand, Trump is very quickly going to precipitate the same bare shelves scenario that we saw during COVID. Not good. Not good. Now, what’s the hope? My hope because I don’t want people to suffer. I want people to be able to afford the things they need and not have bare shelves and panic over will I have what I need for my family or my children? My hope is that this is a really short sighted game of chicken and.

Trump is going to undo this stuff sooner than later. It’s not clear. The markets believe that that’s what’s coming. I hope that it is, but it’s not clear, and so I would love to hear from you. Are you stockpiling? Are you worried about another supply chain crisis? Let me know, and we’ll see where this goes. You.