Daily pricing data reveal the slow-rolling impact of tariffs

Six months into America’s latest round of tariffs, the price tags tell a quiet but unmistakable story. Harvard economist Alberto Cavallo and his team are tracking hundreds of thousands of retail goods, finding that tariffs are slowly—but steadily—raising costs for consumers. Prices on imported goods are up about 5%, and even U.S.-made products are climbing as domestic companies seize new pricing power. The real concern, Cavallo warns, isn’t just higher prices today—it’s the long-term erosion of variety, quality, and competitiveness that follows. Jeff Horwich, Senior Economics Writer with Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has the full story.