From GAP jeans to Nike sneakers: These clothing products will cost more under Trump’s tariffs

Donald Trump said he’d make groceries cheaper. Then he went on to say how he loved the word groceries, and how they were ‘a bag with lots of stuff in’. But that’s not the most egregious thing he’s said this week, oh no.

That title goes to the misconception that Americans won’t have to bear the brunt of his other favourite word: tariffs.

Since someone whispered the sweet nothings of tariffs into his ear hole, the President has done nothing else other than talk about them. When I say ‘nothing else’, I clearly don’t mean it: he’s publicly argued with the leader of Ukraine, said that Canada should become the 51st state, tried to buy Greenland, deported a man for having a Real Madrid tattoo, blamed DEI for a plane crash, hired the richest man in the world to cut pensions, launched his own crypto, renamed the Gulf of Mexico - can I stop now?

Tariffs ‘an unfair burden to American families’

Anyway, back to tariffs. Trump says they are reciprocal - they are not. They are a reciprocal political act, but they are not ‘reciprocal tariffs’. They are a ham-fisted attempt at power politics, using a sensationally stupid algorithm produced with no real logic behind it to force countries into taking the knee (no pun intended) at Trump’s feet and feeding his ego.

The only real consequence of these tariffs for the hard-working people of the United States is higher prices on just about everything.

Believe it or not, but the United States does not, and can not, make everything for itself. The country simply does not have the infrastructure, climate, man-power or desire to be completely self-sufficient. Unless you’re Amish.

As a result, foreign trade is an absolutely necessary aspect of modern living, and Trump’s tariffs are another barrier that businesses have to clear in order to be able to make things work from a financial perspective. Take Nike for example: they do not source their materials in the United States, it’s too expensive, so they look to southeast Asia where labour is cheaper. Hiking the tariffs in Vietnam (46%) means that Nike have to pay more to import their materials, so the price of the product goes up. It’s not making America great, but expensive.

The same goes for shops like Target, Walmart and GAP, all of whom use Vietnamese products and will now have to pay almost 50% more just to import the products before they sell them to you. How do you think the companies will look to cover those higher costs? Exactly. Taking from your pocket.

H&M uses materials from China (34%) and Bangladesh (37%), so expect to see their prices rise in accordance with their higher costs. While some countries will look to strike a deal with the former reality TV star, others with arguably stronger backbones and less of an immediate reliance on the US, like China, will simply fight fire with fire.

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In any case, the tariffs will bring an “unfair burden to American families, particularly lower-income households”, said the United States Fashion Industry Association in a statement on Wednesday.

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