More than two months after President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, the effects are beginning to show up in a new tariff price tracker tool from Consumer Reports.
In the four weeks the website has been tracking prices for 16 items, appliances are the first goods to see significant price changes.
“It looks like that’s where people are going to get hurt first,” Consumer Reports home and technology editor Chris Raymond told Spectrum News.
Specifically, the price tracker saw prices increase for a Shark vacuum cleaner, a Panasonic microwave and an LG washing machine. Prices for all three items had held steady since May 16, when Consumer Reports first launched its tariff price tracker, but shot up over the last week.
Raymond first came up with the idea for the price tracker on April 2 — the day President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs and when Nintendo released details for its Switch 2 gaming console.
“Nintendo immediately had to suspend pre-orders because they suddenly didn’t know what it was going to cost to get it to the U.S. and sell it in the U.S.,” Raymond said of the console, which is made in China, Vietnam and Cambodia — all of which were subject to steep new tariffs that have since been temporarily and partially rolled back.
“It became very clear we were looking at a very complicated set of decisions consumers would need to make in the coming months,” Raymond said. “I thought pulling together a list of products would help us see what was happening in the marketplace.”
Raymond decided to track 16 popular products ranging from everyday items such as Folgers Classic Roast Ground Coffee to parental must-haves such as Huggies diapers to discretionary purchases such as the Nintendo Switch 2, as well as a DeWalt portable generator and one of the bestselling vehicles in the United States — the Ford F-150.
For each item every Friday, Raymond checks prices at three separate retailers that sell the exact same product. For the LG washing machine, he checks AJ Madison, Home Depot and Lowe’s, all of which registered a $50 price increase between May 30 and June 6. For a TCL TV — the one item that has seen prices decrease for four consecutive weeks — he checks Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart.
Six of the items on the price tracker haven’t changed at all over the past four weeks: the Ford F-150, DeWalt portable generator, iPhone 16, Nintendo Switch 2, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and Chicco KeyFit car seat.
Others have seen slight price variations. After an initial price spike in mid-May, Folgers coffee and Huggies diapers have not changed in price. Tide Ultra Stain Release laundry detergent dropped in price in mid-May before stabilizing at the end of last month.
“It’s early,” Raymond said. “I don’t think anybody wanted to be first out with, 'We’re increasing prices.'"
Raymond said he is watching to see if Home Depot follows through on its forecast of dropping certain products if their prices increase because of tariffs, and how much Walmart increases its prices, as the company said it would have to do last month.
Raymond said his tariff price tracker syncs up with the latest data from the real-time market intelligence data company OpenBrand.
Released Tuesday, OpenBrand’s Tariff Impact on Consumer Durables Purchases report found price growth for personal goods and consumer durables increased 0.53% in May compared with a 0.35% increase in April. It noted accelerated price growth in appliances, home improvement and personal care products. Acne care, dishwashers, hair styling products, countertop microwaves, outdoor cooking, shaving razors, sound bars and TVs all increased in price from 1.24% and 2.92% in May.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that consumer prices increased 2.4% in May compared to a year ago, up slightly from April's 2.3% year-over-year increase.
