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Saturday, April 12, 2025

As Tariffs Hit, Americans Are Racing to Buy Car Seats, iPhones and Christmas Gifts - The New York Times

As Tariffs Hit, Americans Are Racing to Buy Car Seats, iPhones and Christmas Gifts

"Many Americans have purchased foreign-made products out of fears that companies could start to raise prices soon.

Shoppers with umbrellas outdoors in front of a modern building with an Apple logo and pink and purple neon lights.
Fearing increased prices because of tariffs on Chinese goods, shoppers have flocked to Apple stores to buy iPhones, deciding not to wait until the release of new models later this year.Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Emily Moen, a coffee shop manager in Omaha, was scrolling through TikTok earlier this week when she came across a video informing her that President Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher prices for essential baby products.

Ms. Moen, who is 15 weeks pregnant, said that she had not planned to buy a car seat soon. But after watching the video, she researched the one made by Graco that she had been eyeing, and learned that it was manufactured in China. Worried that the $200 seat could get even more expensive, she bought the item on Amazon the same day.

“It was like an awakening to get this done now,” said Ms. Moen, 29.

As the Trump administration’s trade war with China escalates, many consumers have raced to purchase foreign-made products out of fear that companies could start to raise prices soon. Some have rushed to buy big-ticket items like iPhones and refrigerators. Others have hurriedly placed orders for cheap goods from Chinese e-commerce platforms.

The White House this week imposed a minimum tariff rate of 145 percent on all Chinese imports to the United States, on top of other previously announced levies, including a 25 percent tariff on steel, aluminum, cars and car parts.

And last week, Mr. Trump ordered the end of a loophole that had allowed goods from China worth less than $800 to enter the United States without tariffs.

Early data show that consumers stocked up on goods after the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs on nearly all trading partners.Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Some early data show that consumers flocked to stores and stocked up on goods after the administration announced sweeping tariffs on nearly all trading partners. Mr. Trump backed down on some of those threats this week and instituted a 90-day pause on more punishing levies. But he said that the halt would not apply to China, and he instead raised tariffs again on all Chinese goods.

China is the second largest source of U.S. imports, and makes the bulk of the world’s cellphones, computers and toys.

According to Earnest Analytics, a firm that analyzes data on millions of debit and credit card payments, consumer spending at Apple was up 20 percent between April 2 and April 7 compared with average spending there in recent months. Spending was also up 10 percent at Home Depot and 18 percent at the department store chain Belk, according to the analysis.

Consumers have also raced to grocery stores, large discount chains and car dealerships in recent days. Purchases of shelf-stable goods surged in the five days following Mr. Trump’s tariff announcement on April 2, with sales of canned and jarred vegetables up 23 percent, sales of instant coffee up 20 percent and ketchup sales up 16 percent compared with the same period the week before, according to data from Consumer Edge, a company that tracks consumer behavior.

Although some consumers have been more strategic with their purchases, others might be stockpiling because of uncertainty about which products will be affected by tariffs, and whether companies will raise prices, analysts said.

The threat of higher prices has also prompted many consumers to buy electronics, particularly iPhones. For more than a decade, American shoppers have purchased iPhones each year beginning in September, when Apple releases its newest models. But Mr. Trump’s tariffs have turned April into this year’s iPhone-buying season.

Tom Barnard, 49, a university marketing director in Waco, Texas, said that he helped his mother buy a new iPhone 16 on Friday. Mr. Barnard said that his mother would have waited for the newest model to come out, but that he thought that it was wiser to make the purchase now, in case Apple increased prices later this year.

“The iPhone could get very expensive very quickly,” he said. “I think we’re going to be in a trade war with China until at least through the end of the year.”

Apple makes roughly 80 percent of its iPhones in China, according to Counterpoint Research, a technology research firm. Because the Trump administration has said that it won’t exempt products made in China from higher tariffs, Apple will either have to pay those fees, reducing its profit, or indirectly pass on the extra costs to customers by raising prices.

Analysts at UBS have estimated that a $1,199 iPhone 16 Pro Max assembled in China is likely to increase in cost by $950, or about 79 percent, at the current tariff rate on Chinese imports.

“There’s panic buying going on and panic selling by investors, too,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. “It’s more turmoil than I’ve seen in 20 years following the company. The speed of it has been crazy.”

Mr. Barnard, the marketing director in Texas who planned to purchase a new iPhone, said that he and his wife also spent around $650 at Walmart last weekend, in large part because they were concerned that tariffs could raise grocery costs.

Some parents have even debated buying Christmas gifts eight months early, to stave off higher prices. In Facebook groups and on message boards dedicated to families, parents debated what to buy, given the attention span of toddlers. Parents asked each other if their children would still be interested in narwhal or unicorn toys at the end of the year, or if it was better to go for a more standard gift, such as Lego sets.

In one Facebook group for families in the Los Angeles area, parents shared notes about Apple products, video game consoles they had purchased and where they had seen the lowest prices.

“We were talking about getting our son an iPhone when he turns 14 at the end of the year, but we are going to buy it now,” wrote one parent, in a Facebook group for families in the San Francisco area. “We just have to hide it from him until his birthday.”

Other consumers have been preparing for the possibility of higher prices for months. Bree Chaudoin, 47, a lending support specialist in Normal, Ill., said she upgraded her iPhone shortly after Mr. Trump was elected in November, out of concern that prices could rise if he imposed new tariffs. Ms. Chaudoin said that she also started saving up for new camping gear late last year.

About a month ago, Ms. Chaudoin purchased a $1,500 rooftop tent for her car that appeared to have been manufactured in China. She also ordered a new water tank, camping lanterns and fire tongs from Temu and AliExpress, popular e-commerce platforms with Chinese owners.

Ms. Chaudoin said that she typically tries to buy as many American products as she can. But a similar water tank produced domestically, she added, would have cost at least $120 more.

“I have a very tight budget,” she said. “When they sell these products that are such high quality and for a less amount of money, it just didn’t make sense to me to buy them anywhere else.”

Even though the recent surge in sales has provided a boon for some companies, retail analysts said that firms appeared to be more concerned about consumers pulling back on spending. Wall Street economists have lowered their forecasts for growth and warned about a potential recession amid a global trade war. Consumer sentiment has also tumbled as households grow more anxious about inflation.

“When I talk to companies, they’re more worried that people are not going to buy,” said Simeon Siegel, a retail analyst at the investment bank BMO Capital Markets.

Tripp Mickle and Sheera Frenkel contributed reporting.

Madeleine Ngo covers U.S. economic policy and how it affects people across the country."

As Tariffs Hit, Americans Are Racing to Buy Car Seats, iPhones and Christmas Gifts - The New York Times

Trump Live Updates: New Tariff Rule Exempts Smartphones and Other Electronics From Most Levies - The New York Times

Trump Administration Live Updates: Smartphones and Computers Get Reprieve From New U.S. Tariffs on China

President Trump facing a group of people holding up phones and microphones.
President Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.Tom Brenner for The New York Times

"Where Things Stand

  • Smartphone reprieve: The Trump administration published a rule late Friday night that appeared to exempt smartphones, computers and other electronics from most of the president’s punishing tariffs on China, giving tech companies like Apple and Dell a break from levies that threatened to upend their businesses and increase prices for consumers. 

  • Border policy: President Trump announced a plan on Friday to turn a narrow strip along the Mexican border in California, Arizona and New Mexico into a military installation as part of his effort to curtail illegal crossings. The plan, set out in a White House memorandum, calls for transferring authority over the 60-foot-wide strip of federal border land known as the Roosevelt Reservation from other cabinet agencies to the Defense Department. Read more ›

  • Federal firings: A federal appeals panel on Friday halted parts of a district court judge’s injunction blocking the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, allowing officials to move ahead with firing some agency employees. Read more ›

The Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan this week.Karsten Moran for The New York Times

After more than a week of ratcheting up tariffs on products imported from China, the Trump administration issued a rule late Friday that appeared to spare smartphones, computers and other electronics from some of the fees, giving tech companies like Apple and Dell a break from levies that threatened to upend their businesses and increase prices for consumers.

A message posted late Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection included a long list of products that would not face the reciprocal tariffs President Trump imposed in recent days on Chinese goods as part of a worsening trade war. Apart from smartphones and laptop computers, the exclusions would also apply to transistors and semiconductors, which are largely not made in the United States.

Supporters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rallying outside the agency in February. The appeals court left much of the injunction blocking the Trump administration from dismantling the agency intact.Craig Hudson/Reuters

A federal appeals panel on Friday halted parts of a district court judge’s injunction blocking the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, allowing officials to move ahead with firing some agency employees.

Russell T. Vought, the White House budget office director, was named the consumer bureau’s acting director in February and immediately began gutting the agency. He closed its headquarters and sought to terminate its lease, canceled contracts essential to the bureau’s operations, terminated hundreds of employees and sought to lay off nearly all of the rest.

The unveiling of former President Barack Obama’s official portrait in the East Room of the White House in 2022.Doug Mills/The New York Times

The Trump administration said on Friday that it had moved a portrait of former President Barack Obama in a White House hallway and replaced it with a pop-art painting of President Trump pumping his fist after the assassination attempt last year on the campaign trail in Butler, Pa.

The shuffling of décor is not uncommon at the White House, where portraits are rotated often. But the new, striking artwork depicting Mr. Trump drew criticism from some presidential historians, who could not recall another president hanging a painting of himself during his term in the White House.

President Trump speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday. Tom Brenner for The New York Times

President Trump announced a plan on Friday to turn a narrow strip along the Mexican border in California, Arizona and New Mexico into a military installation as part of his effort to curtail illegal crossings.

The plan, set out in a White House memorandum, calls for transferring authority over the 60-foot-wide strip of federal border land known as the Roosevelt Reservation from other cabinet agencies to the Defense Department. Military forces patrolling that area could then temporarily detain migrants passing through for trespassing on a military reservation, said a U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

Mainers protest against Gov. Janet Mills in front of the State Capitol in Augusta in March.Ryan David Brown for The New York Times

The Department of Education said on Friday that it was moving to cut off all federal funding for Maine’s public schools because the state had ignored President Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports teams.

The agency also said it had asked the Justice Department to pursue “enforcement action” against Maine, which the Trump administration has been targeting since the president picked a fight with the state’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, over transgender athletes in February.

Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, told senators that the agency would not engage in retribution under his command.Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The F.B.I. has suspended an analyst on Kash Patel’s so-called enemies list after Mr. Patel told lawmakers that the bureau under his leadership would stay out of the political fray and not punish employees for partisan reasons.

Last week, the bureau placed the analyst, Brian Auten, on administrative leave, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. The reasons for the suspension remain unclear.

Kirkland & Ellis is one of the law firms that recently reached deals with the White House to provide free legal work to causes that President Trump supports.Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

Five more prominent law firms facing potential punitive action by President Trump reached deals on Friday with the White House to provide a total of $600 million in free legal services to causes supported by the president.

Four of the firms — Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, A&O Shearman and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett — each agreed to provide $125 million in pro bono or free legal work, according to Mr. Trump. A fifth firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono work."

Trump Live Updates: New Tariff Rule Exempts Smartphones and Other Electronics From Most Levies - The New York Times