As the tariff battles continue, some Southern California residents tell KNX News’ Jon Baird they are bracing for higher prices.
"I would definitely say that I am worried about how that's going to impact my ability to just live my daily life and purchases as I am now, especially as someone who is more on a modest income," one shopper said.
Another shopper said she's worried because the minimum wage has not changed.
“It's not enough to survive, and I don't know why the prices keep going up and up and the minimum is the same,” one shopper in Torrance said.
Baird spoke with another shopper who said she’s concerned about the impact it could have on her job.
“I think I could see us having to do layoffs in a year or two, especially if our clients start pulling back work since our clients are all major manufacturers,” she said.
But one shopper Baird spoke with said she’s taking a wait-and-see approach.
“I think it definitely can be short-term pain, but you know, so it's just kind of like if we can get through it, maybe the long term could be beneficial,” she said.
She urged other shoppers to do their research.
“You’ve got to do your homework,” she said. “You just can't freak out.”
NYU School of Professional Studies Professor Colin Slabach told KNX News he thinks Americans are reacting very logically to the tariffs by buying up items before prices increase.
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“We're gonna see a massive increase in demand, and also we're going to see all of the supplier [say], ‘How quickly can you get this to the United States so we can, you know, have inventory for a longer time period?’” he said.
But Tyler Schipper, an economics professor at the University of St. Thomas, told Baird that shoppers may not have to panic just yet.
“There might be a silver lining here [in] that there's some time for these prices to actually increase because any goods that are already on the water are exempt,” he said. “And so that gives us a couple of weeks that hopefully cooler heads prevail and maybe some of these tariffs will get worked out.”
On Wednesday, China announced it would increase tariffs on American goods to 84%, adding that it would "fight to the end."
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