(NOTE: The Blog is back up after some technical problems last week: will leave this topic up a few extra days to allow for full comments and reaction. Special thanks to my technical friends C and H who knew how to give it life again! NEW blog topic Thursday Nov 27! )
The morning drive-thru line at my neighbourhood Florida Dunkin Donuts was unusually short: only two vehicles ahead of me, where usually there are five or six .. or more.
No wonder!
A large decaf coffee (nothing fancy) is now $3.29 US ($4.61 Cad) and a Boston Creme donut now costs $1.79 US ($2.51 Cad) … plus tax, for a $5.50 total US hit … an increase of about 18% from last Winter and clearly not something many working Americans are now willing to shell out each day.
Trump’s tariffs on coffee, cocoa (for chocolate) and who knows what else are taking a toll?
During the recent visit to my US condo (to take a “special” Caribbean cruise that was the real purpose behind this trip) many grocery prices were up; restaurant bills were higher; less people were eating out; and even Target and Walmart had fewer daytime shoppers in their aisles, and no long lines when cashing out.
Not even the “Dollar” store has escaped: that company was able to hold its price line at $1 for years and years, before last Winter finally raising many prices to $1.25: now, $1.50 price tags on many items are quite prevalent as well.
Americans are finally noticing the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs … and they’re not buying his spin that foreign companies, not US consumers, end up paying the duties … or his latest claims that groceries are costing less.
Not!!!
“Record beef prices and coffee that costs $1 more per pound since May have shoppers cutting back on some foods, stockpiling others,” the Wall Street Journal reported a month ago.
(The only really “good” thing I still envied: gasoline was still as low as $2.69 a GALLON!)
But utility bills (electricity, gas, water) are up too … in some cases, way up!
And if coffee, donut and grocery prices are already presenting a challenge for America’s middle class … just imagine how they feel about rapidly rising housing prices, vehicle costs (new AND used), machinery costs … even aluminum beer cans … thanks to Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and lumber.
“How can we make the housing crisis even worse? Donald Trump has a plan,” read UK Guardian newspaper headline this past week.
” The median American home price in January was $418,000, about a 45% increase from $289,000 five years ago, per Redfin data. Wages haven’t gone up at the same rate, and housing prices compared to income have reached an all-time high,” the newspaper reported.
“Canada accounts for roughly 85% of all U.S. softwood lumber imports and represents almost one-quarter of the supply in the U.S. The Commerce Department is currently imposing 14.5% tariffs on Canadian lumber and has signaled that it plans to more than double 14.5% tariff rate later this year to 34.5%,” the US National Association of Home Builders warned.
Trump’s solution: a 50-year mortgage … drew incredulity and ridicule.
Meanwhile, US job creation has slowed considerably and, in October, the US recorded the largest number of job cuts in two decades!
“The layoffs in October surged 175% from a year ago to 153,074. From the start of the year to October end, employers have announced 1,099,500 job cuts, a 65% rise from 664,839 in the same time period last year,” Reuters reported.
There’s no doubt the US is now paying a price for Trump’s economic policies, tariffs and constant instability … and the polls are showing Americans are reacting.
Numerous polls show the President’s “approval” rating has dropped from 43% in March to as low as 36% now.
“The decline is not limited to Democrats or independents; approval among Republican voters has also decreased, dropping from 91 per cent at his inauguration to around 68-79 per cent in recent polls. His standing among Hispanic adults and young voters has deteriorated considerably since the start of the year, with a significant majority of these groups now disapproving of his performance. The current polling data suggests a significant shift in public opinion, with the majority of Americans expressing disapproval of his performance across a range of issues,” the website FirstPost explained.
Hang in there, Canada!
The American people (apart from his dedicated, hard core MAGA base) have awakened to the realities surrounding Trump’s second term in office … and they showed it in the November elections … from coast to coast.
So this weekend, Trump backed down on his tariffs on coffee, bananas, beef and more than 100 other food products … in a stunning acknowledgement that it’s consumers … not foreign companies … who are paying for his tariffs with higher prices!
Surely, another reality … the NEED for Canadian lumber, steel and aluminum to make life more affordable for America’s own citizens … as the mid-terms approach … can’t be ignored much longer.
Even by Trump!
Harv Oberfeld
🇨🇦🇨🇦Buy Canadian!🇨🇦🇨🇦
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