DETROIT — As President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported vehicles were set to take effect, executives at Ford Motor scrambled to figure out how to respond to the new levies. While they and their industry counterparts are still trying to navigate the impacts, Ford decided to move quickly in one area by offering an employee pricing program — called “From America, For America” — for U.S. consumers. Such programs have historically been controversial, as they sell vehicles close to or lower than invoice prices for dealers and eat away at already tight profit margins for the retailers. But Ford decided the time was right to launch the program to promote its U.S. operations — the largest among automakers — and assist sales amid consumer concerns and economic uncertainty due to Trump’s tariffs. “We understand that these are uncertain times for many Americans. Whether it’s navigating the complexities of a changing economy or simply needing a reliable vehicle for your family, we want to help,” Ford said in a statement Thursday morning announcing the program. “We have the retail inventory to do this and a lot of choice for customers that need a vehicle.” It’s an example of how some automakers are attempting to find “opportunity in the chaos” or trying to “capitalize on the moment” amid the tariffs, as several industry analysts told CNBC. “I absolutely love it. I think it’s going to drive sales,” said Ford dealer Marc McEver, owner of Olathe Ford Lincoln near Kansas City, Kansas. “It’s really exciting to see Ford step up and take the lead on this program. I think it’s a great play. … It’s truly a real deal for the customer.” Ford, which is helping retailers financially with the program, told dealers about it a day ahead of the tariffs taking effect Thursday. It publicly announced the new program — which runs through June 30 — hours after the levies began. Heading into the tariffs, Ford also was largely viewed by Wall Street analysts as being one of the best-positioned automakers because of its large U.S. production footprint, specifically for trucks. Ford’s stock fared better than its rivals this week, closing the week down by 1.4%. That compares with Chrysler parent Stellantis losing 14.2% and General Motors dropping 5.4% for the week. Others are following Ford’s strategy, which also is assisted by vehicle prices and profits being higher since the Covid pandemic. Crosstown rival Stellantis on Friday announced a similar employee-pricing program, while Hyundai Motor said it would not raise prices for at least two months to ease consumer concerns. “It makes sense that they would try to capitalize on the moment,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. Keating points out that with Ford and Stellantis — the latter of which is based in Europe but has major operations and brands in the U.S. — it’s a reminder to consumers that they’re “domestic” companies. The automakers also have inventory, including older models, that they need to sell to make way for newer vehicles. “Making room for those new vehicles to come into the showroom and trying to maintain that market share makes a lot of sense,” Keating said. “Anyone who’s able to beat the price out there right now, with the level of demand, is going to be able to hold on to their market share longer than others, and perhaps capture something from those that aren’t willing to meet the customer where they are right now.” Ford and Stellantis brands such as Ram Trucks and Jeep have among the highest days’ supply of vehicle inventories in the automotive industry, according to Cox Automotive. The two companies also were among the only major automakers this week to report notable drops in first-quarter vehicle sales. Stellantis was off roughly 12%, while Ford was down 1.3% from a year earlier. Cox reports the national days’ supply vehicle average was 89 days, while those brands were between 110 days and 130 days. The auto industry has historically considered a healthy days’ supply to be between 60 days to 80 days. In light of the tariffs and fears for potential price increases, demand for vehicles has been high. Consumers flocked to dealer showrooms at the end of last month as Trump confirmed the tariffs would be coming, leading to significant sales gains for many automakers. Cox Automotive estimated new-vehicle sales in March hit 1.59 million units sold, significantly exceeding its forecast and marking the best month for sales volume in four years. “The last week, and including this past weekend, was by far the best weekend that I’ve seen in a very long time,” Hyundai Motor North America CEO Randy Parker said Tuesday during a media call. “I’ve been doing this now for a very, very long time. So, lots of people, I think, rushed in this weekend, especially, to try and beat the tariffs.” Selling now because future sales aren’t guaranteed also could assist if there’s a U.S. recession. J.P. Morgan on Friday raised its odds for a U.S. and global recession from a 40% chance to 60% chance by the end of the year. “Because the demand is there right now, it makes sense [to offer consumer incentives] because everyone’s saying, ‘Gotta go get it now,’ might as well go ahead and reap the benefits now in case we do go into a recession,” Keating said.

A trip to the grocery or liquor store is about to become even more expensive, economists say, following the latest round of import tariffs announced by President Trump on Wednesday. Those tariffs — taxes paid by businesses on goods from abroad — come on the heels of a previous round aimed specifically at Canada, Mexico and China. Prices for items such as seafood, coffee, wine, nuts and cheese are all expected to rise. And if you’re tempted to grab a candy bar while you’re in the checkout line, you’ll probably have to pay more for that as well. Food industry analyst Phil Lempert, also the editor of supermarketguru.com, estimates that with the latest tariffs “probably almost half of the products in a supermarket — about 40,000 products — will be affected by these tariffs, whether it’s the entire product or just an ingredient.” Joseph Balagtas, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, says food prices will also be affected by other factors related to tariffs, such as higher costs for fertilizer from Canada and a weaker U.S. dollar. “A main takeaway here is that the country-specific, food-specific tariffs will not tell the whole story,” he says. “This is such a big change in policy that there will be broader implications.” It’s impossible yet to know how much the tariffs will affect prices, but with the 10% tariff for many countries and higher “reciprocal tariffs” on other nations, the tariff rates by country could provide some clues. Here are 10 grocery items you might want to keep an eye on and their country of origin (with tariff rates in parentheses).

Seafood

Some top sources: Chile (10%), India (26%), Indonesia (32%) and Vietnam (46%) are the largest suppliers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This category is likely to take a big hit because the U.S. imports the vast majority of its seafood — up to 85% according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — and several countries that supply fish and shellfish to the U.S. have been among the hardest hit by the tariffs.

Coffee

Top sources: Brazil (10%) and Colombia (10%), according to USDA. The U.S. is the world’s largest importer of coffee, with about 80% of U.S. roasted imports coming from Latin America. More than 60% comes from just two countries — Brazil and Colombia, USDA says.

Fruit

Some top sources: Guatemala (10%), Costa Rica (10%) and Peru (10%) Guatemala and Costa Rica are leading exporters of bananas to the U.S. Guatemala also ships melons, plantains and papayas, according to USDA, while Costa Rica exports pineapples, avocados and mangoes. “These products don’t have a long shelf life, and with the tariffs, we’re going to face significant issues with both price and availability,” Lempert says.

Alcohol

Top sources for wine: the European Union — France, Italy and Spain (20%). New Zealand (10%) and Australia (10%), according to USDA. Top sources for beer: Mexico (25%), the Netherlands and Ireland (both with the EU’s 20% tariff) and Canada (25%) If your favorite summer beverage is Modelo, Corona, Heineken or Guinness, you’ll likely be paying more. Tequila imports from Mexico have also seen a surge in recent years and will be affected by the tariffs. Lempert says the imported alcohol sector is likely “to be clobbered.” He also notes that beer sold in cans is also going to get a double hit due to tariffs on China and other aluminum producers.

Beef

Some top sources: New Zealand (10%) and Australia (10%), according to USDA. Although 90% of beef consumed in the U.S. is domestically produced, tariffs will likely add to existing price pressures. The cost of ground beef for consumers, for example, is already at historic highs and according to the USDA, the U.S. cattle herd is the smallest it’s been since 1951.

Rice

Top sources: Thailand (36%) and India (26%), according to USDA. Although most rice sold in the U.S. is domestically produced, nearly a third is imported, mainly jasmine rice from Thailand and basmati rice from India.

Cheese

Top sources: Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands (all subject to 20% EU tariff), according to USDA. Parmigiano-Reggiano, brie and Gouda could also see price rises.

Nuts

Top sources: Vietnam (46%), Côte d’Ivoire (21%), Brazil (10%), Thailand (36%), according to the World Bank. Cashews, pecans and macadamia nuts are likely to see the largest price increases.

Chocolate

Top source: Côte d’Ivoire (21%) and Ecuador (10%), according to USDA. The Hershey Company, one of the largest U.S. importers of cocoa beans, says it sources its supply from Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Peru. NPR reached out to Hershey, which makes Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kat bars, among others, to inquire about future price increases. A spokesman for Hershey, Todd Scott, said the company could not comment because it is in an earnings window. However, Lempert says the tariffs come on top of “serious increases in cocoa beans for probably the past two or three years because of the weather and the political climate in … Africa.”

Olive oil

Top sources: European Union (20%), particularly Spain, Italy and Greece. “Olive oil prices have gone through the roof,” Lempert says. “They’re going to go even higher.”

Bad things can happen when presidents seem to lose their grip on reality. After a day of stock market shocks and global recriminations, there are reasons to question whether President Donald Trump fully grasps the consequences of the tariff barrage that he used to fire up a global trade war. “I think it’s going very well,” Trump told reporters Thursday, in the aftermath of his “Liberation Day” announcement the day before. “It was an operation like when a patient gets operated on and it’s a big thing,” Trump said. “We’ve never seen anything like it. The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom.” As chaos whipped across the planet and American seniors dreaded looking into depleted market-linked retirement savings accounts, Vice President JD Vance said, “We’re feeling good.” He told Newsmax: “Look, I frankly thought in some ways it could be worse in the markets because this is a big transition.” Their bravado followed the worst day on Wall Street in five years, where $2.5 trillion was wiped off the S&P index. This financial carnage was not caused by some act of God, like a pandemic, or natural disaster, terrorist attack or foreign crisis. It was the result of a conscious choice by a president making a gut check call. Stocks took another tumble on Friday morning after China imposed 34% reciprocal tariffs on US imports in a move that will make it far harder for US manufacturers to profit from its vast market. Trump, however, suggested he’d outwitted America’s superpower rival. “CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!” he posted on Truth Social. There are growing signs of confusion about the White House’s strategy, just weeks after Trump inherited an economy that was humming when President Joe Biden handed it over and stocks hit record highs. Trump suggested Thursday evening that his single-handed blitz against the global trading system was merely a bargaining position. “Tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” he told reporters on Air Force One as he left the growing crisis behind for one of his Florida resorts to host a tournament for the millionaire players on the Saudi-backed LIV rebel golf tour. But earlier, on “The Situation Room” on CNN, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, vowed: “The president is not going to back off.” And on Fox News, Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro insisted “this is not a negotiation.” The conflicting messages and sense of drift posed fundamental questions of whether a presidential inner circle that critics have long said is delusional about the impact of a tariff war also has the competence to navigate out of the crisis. Those questions were exacerbated by the sleight of hand that the president used to deliver tariffs that he said were reciprocal and matched those that were a dollar-for-dollar match but in fact were not. The rudimentary formula that was used to arrive at bewildering tariff rates deepened the sense of fury among US trading partners. “They know nothing,” veteran Wall Street trader Peter Tuchman told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “The formula they used … it’s like apples, oranges, a couple of cashews divided by 10 times four.” He added: “None of it makes any sense and billions and trillions of dollars are being wiped out of the market on a day-to-day basis. “It was nothing but blood on the streets.”

Price hikes to come?

Financial experts predicted painful price hikes to consumer goods and a resurgence of inflation — just five months after Trump won reelection with a promise to cut the costs of food and housing that bedeviled the country for years. The immediate impact of the tariff announcements was driven home when Stellantis, which produces Chrysler and Dodge vehicles, paused production at plants in Mexico and Canada. Some 900 US-based workers were temporarily laid off. They won’t be the last if the president’s action causes an economic downturn. The enormous risk Trump is taking with the financial wellbeing of millions of people in the US and abroad is in tune with an early second term he’s using to conduct the most extravagant power grabs that he was talked out of in his first. Trump is challenging the rule of law with his expansive claims of executive power, has unleashed Elon Musk to eviscerate the federal government — including health care programs that have saved millions of lives. Migrants are being swept up off the streets or even expelled to a vicious El Salvador jail, often in apparent denial of due process and in defiance of judges and the rule of law. The circus that took over the White House between 2017 and 2021 is back in town. Almost unbelievable revelations about top officials discussing air attacks on Yemen on a chatroom app were followed by zero accountability for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for posting operational intelligence. The drama provoked the same anxiety about the competence of Trump’s national security team in a crisis as are now surrounding his economic brain trust. In another stunning development, the White House fired multiple officials, including three National Security Council staffers after meeting Laura Loomer. The far-right activist who once branded 9/11 an inside job accused the officials of disloyalty to the president. Trump is causing havoc on his national security team while also upending decades of US foreign policy, as he has fractured confidence among America’s western allies that he’d defend them against Russia.

Why Trump’s supporters back tariffs, at least for now

A recurring trend of Trump’s political career is that his most outlandish acts — from his criminal indictments to his most outrageous uses of presidential power — often unleash a hysterical reaction from critics. In the eye of the storms of his own creation, the president draws political energy from the controversy and wrong foots his opponents. So, it’s fair to ask whether Thursday’s uproar is an overreaction. After all this is far from the first stocks sell-off in history. Top officials insist that the tariffs are a first step towards building an economy that protects American workers and rebuilds manufacturing desecrated by the loss of US factory jobs to low wage economies in Asia and elsewhere. “What you’re going to see is factories going to be built here,” Lutnick told CNN’s Pamela Brown. “Why should US policy basically suggest that you can find the cheapest labor in the world with the worst labor conditions in the whole wide world, the worst pollution … no environmental rules at all, let’s go build there because it’s really cheap, and we will sell it to the great American economy?” No one can argue that the toll inflicted on former industrial heartlands is an unworthy issue for a president. And Trump is responding directly to the thwarted aspirations of millions of his voters who don’t care that Wall Street traders took a hammering or that American allies who they regard as freeloaders are angry. And since China’s entry into the World Trade Organization ended up bankrolling its spectacular rise, shouldn’t someone be asking whether a trade policy that created a superpower enemy should be adjusted? Trump’s supporters — in the democratic election that he won in 2024 — also voted for maximum disruption: He left no doubt that he’d be unleashed in a second term, even if some of his advisers suggested during the campaign, as they have this week, that tariffs would just be used as a negotiating tool rather than a permanent high barrier. It’s the same with national security. The disapproving foreign policy elites who condemn Trump officials for lax cellphone use come from the same intellectual class that brought America the lost wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And whether it’s fair or not, many citizens view the federal government as indifferent to their plight and ripe for Musk’s chainsaw. “To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on CNN Thursday, trying, and failing, to calm the coming stock market mayhem. “This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term.”

The acid test of Trump’s popularity

Wall Street traders may no longer trust Trump, but it will take more than a stock market slump to shatter the rare bond that the president enjoys with his base. Still, if the markets crisis develops into a recession and if the temporary pain that administration officials say will pave the way to a new economic golden age turns out to be more permanent, Trump’s support may face its steepest test. Coming days may establish whether the president and his supporters are willing to pay a significant economic or political price for the fruition of campaign trail vows. And ahead of midterm elections in November 2026, Trump’s fellow Republicans may soon start to learn whether more moderate and independent voters who bought into Trump’s vaunted dealmaking and business mystique and thought he could supercharge the economy will stick with his party when he’s off the ballot. “The challenge these tariffs are going to present is that they are almost certainly going to raise the cost of living for Americans at least in the short-term,” Republican pollster and strategist Kristen Soltis Anderson told CNN’s Kasie Hunt. “What Donald Trump is asking is for everybody to endure a little bit of short-term pain in exchange for some long-term benefit — in his view a healthy reordering of the global economy,” she said. “In politics, because we have elections every two years for Congress — saying that this is going to be very good for you way down the road is a tough sell for a lot of voters.” But the administration — beyond unspecific warnings about short term disruption — still isn’t conceding Americans will face price hikes. “Foreign nations who have to sell here are going to lower their prices and then the next thing they’re going to do is continue to manipulate their currency, so our currency is going to get stronger,” Navarro told CNN’s Phil Mattingly. “We’re going to have more purchasing power for the imports. That’s going to offset it.” These predictions could be a trap for the White House. Past presidents have irrevocably severed trust with the public when they insisted on a reality that voters could perceive was false. This includes Lyndon Johnson’s insistence on expanding a war he was losing in Vietnam, George W. Bush’s denial when victory in Iraq degenerated into an insurgency and Joe Biden’s insistence that the chaotic exit from Afghanistan was a success. Judging by their remarks on Thursday, Trump and Vance risk going down a similar road even as their situation promises to get worse. “Usually, when you have a terrible stock market experience, it’s because a bank fails or there’s a pandemic or there’s a hurricane or some other country does something,” former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers told CNN’s Hunt. “We don’t have these kind of stock market responses in response to polices that the president of the United States is proud of. That is something that is entirely without precedent and it is extremely dangerous.”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that he expects President Donald Trump’s tariffs to raise inflation and lower growth, and indicated that the central bank won’t move on interest rates until it gets a clearer picture on the ultimate impacts. In a speech delivered before business journalists in Arlington, Virginia, Powell said the Fed faces a “highly uncertain outlook” because of the new reciprocal levies the president announced Wednesday. Though he said the economy currently looks strong, he stressed the threat that tariffs pose and indicated that the Fed will be focused on keeping inflation in check. “Our obligation is to keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored and to make certain that a one-time increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem,” Powell said in prepared remarks. “We are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance. It is too soon to say what will be the appropriate path for monetary policy.” The remarks came shortly after Trump called on Powell to “stop playing politics” and cut interest rates because inflation is down. “I make it a practice not to respond to any elected officials comments, so I don’t want to be seen to be doing that. It’s just not appropriate for me,” Powell said at the onset of a question-and-answer session following his speech. There’s been a torrent of selling on Wall Street following the Trump announcement of 10% across-the-board tariffs, along with a menu of reciprocal charges that are much higher for many key trading partners. Powell noted that the announced tariffs were “significantly larger than expected.” “The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” he said. “The size and duration of these effects remain uncertain.”

Focused on inflation

While Powell was circumspect about how the Fed will react to the changes, markets are pricing in an aggressive set of interest rate cuts starting in June, with a rising likelihood that the central bank will slice at least a full percentage point off its key borrowing rate by the end of the year, according to CME Group data. However, the Fed is charged with keeping inflation anchored with full employment. Powell stressed that meeting the inflation side of its mandate will require keeping inflation expectations in check, something that might not be easy to do with Trump lobbing tariffs at U.S. trading partners, some of whom already have announced retaliatory measures. A greater focus on inflation also would be likely to deter the Fed from easing policy until it assesses what longer-term impact tariffs will have on prices. Typically, policymakers view tariffs as just a temporary rise in prices and not a fundamental inflation driver, but the broad nature of Trump’s move could change that perspective. “While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent,” Powell said. “Avoiding that outcome would depend on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored, on the size of the effects, and on how long it takes for them to pass through fully to prices.” Core inflation ran at a 2.8% annual rate in February, part of a general moderating pattern that is nonetheless still well above the Fed’s 2% target. In spite of the elevated anxiety over tariffs, Powell said the economy for now “is still in a good place,” with a solid labor market. However, he mentioned recent consumer surveys showing rising concerns about inflation and dimming expectations for future growth, pointing out that longer-term inflation expectations are still in line with the Fed’s objectives.

The first U.S. tariffs on coffee imports since colonial times will increase costs and complexity to importers and roasters already dealing with near-record prices. The U.S. announced on Wednesday tariffs of 46% on imports from Vietnam, the world’s second largest coffee producer, as well as a 32% duty on imports from Indonesia, the fourth largest grower. Central and South American coffee growers, such as Brazil and Colombia, got a 10% tariff. Vietnam is the third largest supplier of coffee to the U.S., the world’s largest consumer of the beverage. It mainly exports robusta coffee, a type widely used to make instant coffee as well as ready-to-drink cold beverages. “Vietnam is the big one that sticks out,” said Tomas Araujo, a broker at StoneX. “Going forward, it will be a challenge for the supply chain and to end users, with added costs,” he said. “This is big. The tariff on Vietnam means $2,500 more per ton” for a U.S. buyer, a European trader said. ICE robusta futures , the global price benchmark, were trading at around $5,390 per ton on Thursday. It is uncertain if beans already en route to the U.S. are subject to the large tariff, he noted. Countries exporting cocoa, the main chocolate-making ingredient, were also taxed. No. 1 grower Ivory Coast got a 21% tariff. “Both the coffee industry and candy manufacturers will lobby hard to have the tariffs removed from these products,” said soft commodities analyst Judith Ganes, president of J Ganes Consulting. “I personally doubt the tariffs will stick.” U.S. roasters will probably have to shift from Vietnam’s robustas to Brazil’s, known as conilons, experts said. But Brazil does not have a lot of robustas, as it produces mostly the milder arabica variety. The U.S. will have to compete for the conilons with the local Brazilian industry, they said, while Europe and China might be better off having a larger supply from Vietnam at lower prices.

JD Vance said on Thursday that Elon Musk would remain a “friend and an adviser” to the vice-president and Donald Trump after he leaves his current role with the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge). In recent days, several news outlets, including Politico, reported that Trump had told members of his cabinet that the tech billionaire, who holds the position of “special government employee”, would soon be stepping back from his role in the administration, and would take on a supporting role and return to the private sector. As a special government employee, Musk’s current service is capped at 130 days, which, if counted from the day of the inauguration, is set to expire sometime in late May. But on Wednesday, Musk dismissed the report as “fake news” and the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, criticized the Politico story, calling it “garbage”, and adding that Musk “will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at Doge is complete”. And then, on Thursday morning, in an interview with Fox News, Vance stated: “Doge has got a lot of work to do, and yeah, that work is going to continue after Elon leaves, but fundamentally, Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president. “Elon came in and we said: ‘We need you to make government more efficient, we need you to shrink the incredible fat bureaucracy that thwarts the will of the American people but also costs way too much money,” Vance added. “We said, ‘That’s going to take about six months’ – and that’s what Elon signed up for, but of course, he’s going to continue to be an adviser and by the way, the work of Doge is not even close to done, the work of Elon is not even close to done.” Despite Musk’s 130-day cap, Doge is expected to continue until 2026, as a result of Trump’s executive order. The reports regarding Musk’s future involvement with the Trump administration come as earlier this week, a liberal judge in Wisconsin, Susan Crawford, defeated a Musk-backed conservative judge in the race for a seat on the state’s supreme court, framed by Democrats as a referendum on the popularity of Musk and Trump. Musk invested millions in the race, in what what became the most expensive judicial contest in US history, and also spent time campaigning in the state. In her acceptance speech, Crawford said: “I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin, and we won!”

Retailers and brands have turned to Vietnam to manufacture goods from sneakers to couches while moving some or all production out of China. For years, China’s southern neighbor became a popular alternative for companies trying to avoid the crossfire of U.S. trade tensions with Beijing. Now, as President Donald Trump expands his tariff targets, they can no longer steer clear. Trump said he will put a 46% duty on imports from Vietnam as part of a new wave of global levies announced Wednesday. That could soon raise costs for major corporations in the apparel, furniture and toy space, and some of them may pass those increases to consumers in the form of price hikes. The tariffs on Vietnam take effect on April 9. China exported more goods to the U.S. than any other country for more than two decades, but Mexico surpassed China as the top source in 2023. China is now the second largest supplier to the U.S., accounting for $438.9 billion worth of goods in 2024, according to government data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. For companies that have looked to diversify the countries they rely on for production and reduce risks from trade conflicts with China, Vietnam has also become a popular place to go. Imports from Vietnam grew to $136.6 billion in 2024, up about 19% from 2023, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. On the other hand, imports from China rose only 2.8% from 2023 to 2024, according to government data. Imports from China dropped about 18% last year when compared to 2022, when the U.S. brought in $536.3 billion in goods from the country. The duties will hit companies at a time when many consumers have become value-conscious and selective about spending due to persistent inflation and concerns about the economy. While it is unclear now which companies will raise prices due to the tariffs, businesses may be reluctant to shoulder the higher costs as they forecast lackluster spending in the months ahead.

The companies most vulnerable to Vietnam tariffs

Some household names will feel the pinch from Vietnam tariffs. Nike manufacturers about half of its footwear in China and Vietnam, with about 25% coming from Vietnam. Trump will put a 34% tariff on top of existing 20% duties on imports from China, for an apparent rate of 54%, a White House official told CNBC. The tariffs would be yet another headwind for the sneaker and athletic apparel giant, which already delivered a disappointing forecast for the current quarter. That guidance, which projects a double-digit percentage sales decline in the three-month period, included the estimated impact from tariffs on imports from China and Mexico. Expanded tariffs could stall or slow Nike’s efforts to revive its brand and improve sales under its new CEO Elliott Hill, a company veteran who took the helm last fall. Nike shares dropped more than 6% in extended trading Wednesday. Adidas and other major footwear players also rely heavily on Vietnam. The two companies did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Nearly a third of footwear imports in the U.S. came from Vietnam in 2023, the most recent full-year data available, according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, an industry trade group. Steve Madden, for example, said on an earnings call in early November that it would slash its imports to the U.S. from China by as much as 45% over the next year. The footwear maker made that announcement just days after Trump’s presidential victory, following his campaign trail promises to impose steep tariffs on countries like China. Yet one of the nations Steve Madden has accelerated its move to is Vietnam, along with Cambodia, Mexico and Brazil, CEO Edward Rosenfeld said at the time on the earnings call. Vietnam was the second largest country for suppliers of Ugg and Hoka parent company Deckers Brands as of this month. The company has 68 supply chain partners in Vietnam, which is surpassed only by its 125 suppliers in China. Deckers shares dropped nearly 9% in extended trading. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. VF Corporation, which is made up of footwear, apparel and accessories brands including The North Face, Timberland, Vans and Jansport, has a heavy reliance on China and Vietnam, too. About 38% of its suppliers are in China and 17% are in Vietnam, adding up to 55% of exposure across the two countries, according to a manufacturing disclosure from December. The company’s shares dropped more than 8% in extended trading Wednesday. VF declined to comment, citing its quiet period before its upcoming earnings report. The furniture industry has also ramped up its reliance on Vietnam. In 2023, 26.5% of U.S. furniture imports came from the country, close behind the 29% coming from China,  according to data from the Home Furnishings Association, a trade group that lobbies on behalf of home goods retailers. The group cited investment banking firm Mann, Armistead & Epperson – one of the furniture industry’s top sources for data. Taken together, that means about 56% of U.S. furniture imports come from both regions combined. On an earnings call in February, Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah said the shift to countries outside of China has been “a growing trend” since Trump enacted tariffs during his first administration. He said places like Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam “have grown as places where folks have factories and where our goods are coming from.” Wayfair’s stock plunged about 12% in extended trading. In a statement, Wayfair said it is “closely monitoring the evolving trade landscape.” The company added it is “well-positioned to continue offering customers the best possible combination of value, assortment, and experience.” Toymakers have also leaned on Vietnam to make more merchandise that’s imported and sold to kids and adults across the U.S. Hasbro, SpinMaster, Mattel and Crayola are among the companies that work with GFT Group, one of the largest toy manufacturers in the Southeast Asia. In addition to long-established manufacturing facilities in China, GFT currently has five production facilities in northern Vietnam that employ over 15,000 workers. On a call in early March, Funko Chief Financial Officer Yves LePendeven said the company, which is known for its big-eyed plastic collectibles called Pops, was working hard to control what it could in the year ahead. That includes trying to offset tariffs by “renegotiating factory costs, accelerating our shift in production to other sourcing countries, and implementing pricing adjustments,” he said. On the call, he said about a third of Funko’s global product purchases come from China. He didn’t name the countries that Funko was moving production to, but it is a customer of GFT Group. Those toymakers did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment. Curtis McGill is the co-founder of Hey Buddy Hey Pal, a toy company that specializes in Easter egg decorating kits. He said he expects the 46% tariffs to raise toy costs in the U.S., but added companies will likely be negotiating with suppliers in Vietnam to try to mitigate those hikes. “A lot of manufacturers and the actual toy companies have been already having conversations with manufacturing plants having to to help in some regards, because the toy companies are getting pressure to try and maintain prices on this side from the retailers,” McGill said.

Where do manufacturers go next?

For companies, including apparel makers, the new tariff policies have raised questions about whether — and where — to potentially move their manufacturing. Last month, an investor asked American Eagle Outfitters about its exposure to Vietnam on its most recent earnings call. Chief Financial Officer Michael Mathias said the jeans and apparel brand’s production is similar in Vietnam and China, with “high-teens to 20%” of production in each of those countries. He said the company aims to trim that back to single-digits by the back half of the year. American Eagle shares dipped more than 5% on Wednesday. The company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Yet both Mathias and American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein said on the company’s last earnings call that it will be crucial to stay flexible, while waiting to see how tariffs would play out and which countries would be targeted. Schottenstein referred to eight years ago during the first Trump administration, when American Eagle also faced challenges and had to figure out a new plan. Schottenstein said there’s another shift coming, but “nobody knows what the story is yet.” “I wouldn’t be rushing,” he said. “You go rush, where am I rushing to? I don’t know where I’m rushing to.” Peter Baum is the chief financial officer and chief operation officer of Baum Essex, a New York-based manufacturer with licenses to make products for brands like Nautica, Betsey Johnson and Steve Madden. During the first Trump administration in 2019, Baum moved factories from from China to the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and India. He told CNBC on Wednesday that the reciprocal tariffs would do massive damage to his company. “This is how you start a global depression. After 80 years and five generations Trump just put us out of business,” Baum said.

The Trump administration will implement a 25% tariff of all imported canned beer and empty aluminum cans starting Friday, according to a notice from the Department of Commerce.

The expansion of U.S. aluminum tariffs comes shortly before President Donald Trump is expected to announce sweeping new levies on imported goods at a Rose Garden event at 4 p.m. ET.

Industry analysts expect the tariffs on canned beer imports to weigh most heavily on Constellation Brands . Constellation imports all of its beer from Mexico, including Modelo and Corona; beer accounted for 82% of the company’s sales in its most recent quarter. While Corona is best known for coming in glass bottles, Modelo — the bestselling beer in the U.S. — most commonly comes in cans.

Constellation’s shares were down less than 1% in afternoon trading on Wednesday, but concerns about tariffs have weighed on the stock for months. The company’s shares have fallen 22% since Trump’s election in November.

The updated notice for aluminum tariffs published on Wednesday does not mention levies for imported beer packaged in glass bottles. Aluminum cans accounted for 64.1% of beer distribution in 2023, compared with glass bottles’ 26.9% share, according to the Beer Institute.

For years, canned beer has been gaining market share against its bottled counterpart. Brewers can produce and transport cans more easily than glass bottles, which are heavier, leading to cheaper prices on canned beer for consumers.

The U.S. imports most of its aluminum from Canada. China and Mexico, the two other main targets of Trump’s trade ire, are also major exporters of aluminum to the U.S.

US stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as investors cautiously counted down to President Trump’s highly anticipated “Liberation Day” rollout of sweeping new reciprocal tariffs. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose about 0.4%, extending the gains the benchmark index secured on Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell just below the flatline. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rebounded to close up around 0.9%. Markets are still in the dark as to what Trump will announce when he unveils his plans for like-for-like tariffs on Wednesday afternoon. The president’s multiple U-turns in tariff hints have kept investors turning in circles, with stocks jumping or sinking as prospects for more limited duties ebbed and rose. The big question is whether the US will impose a blanket reciprocal tariff on all trading partners, or will tailor the rate levied to specific countries. What is pretty certain is the effective US tariff rate is likely to reach its highest level since at least the 1940s, analysts say — putting pressure on a US economy already grappling with slowing growth and stubborn inflation. On the economic front, job openings hovered near a four-year low in February as the labor market showed continued signs of slow cooling. The data comes as investors closely watch for any signs that economic growth may be slowing further. Meanwhile, separate data out Tuesday showed activity in the manufacturing sector slipped into contraction last month while costs continued to surge as suppliers weigh the impact of President Trump’s tariff policy.

Buyers flooded dealerships in March to snap up cars ahead of the threat of higher prices due to tariffs. Strong March sales made up for a weaker start to the year. Ford reported Tuesday that sales in March rose 10%, a bounce from the 1.3% decline in the first quarter overall. The biggest jump was in retail sales, or sales directly to consumers, which surged 19% in March. This sales jump comes as the Trump administration plans to impose a 25% tariff Thursday on all cars imported from foreign countries, including Canada and Mexico, and is looking to slap tariffs on auto parts later this year. Both actions could raise costs for automakers. Roughly half the cars sold in the US market are imports, and cars assembled in American factories use imported parts for a significant portion of their content. That, along with a squeeze on the supply of vehicles, could raise the price of all cars in the near term, according to experts. Car buyers have been rushing to dealerships over the past week to beat any possible price hikes, accordingly. Cox Automotive said that the online traffic on both its Kelley Blue Book site and its Autotrader.com site increased by 30% between last Wednesday — when the tariffs were announced — and Monday, compared to the same period a year ago. The web sites that Cox Automotive runs for hundreds of individual dealerships across the country had an average increase of 20% in traffic. “It is difficult to pinpoint a specific reason (for the March surge),” said Ford spokesman Said Deep, and the company did not mention tariffs in the sales release. And while most of the vehicles Ford makes are at US plants that won’t immediately be subject to tariffs, some of the automaker’s hottest sellers in the quarter are produced outside the United States. That includes the Maverick small pickup truck, which is built in Mexico, and had a record sales month in March, with 19,000 trucks sold. The company attributed those strong Maverick sales to “improved availability.” The Ford Mustang Mach-E, its electric SUV which is also made in Mexico, saw its sales in the quarter climb 21% compared to a year ago. Ford estimates that industrywide US new car sales rose 5% in March, which is similar to the sales jump in January.That’s when the Trump administration first announced plans for tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, which were later delayed. Ford isn’t the only automaker seeing a sales jump in March. Toyota reported its sales rose nearly 8% last month after being down 3% during the first two months of the year. Honda reported its March sales jumped 13% compared to a year ago, after being relatively flat during the first two months of 2025. Korean automaker Hyundai reported record US sales in March, rising 13% compared to an 8% gain in the first two months of the year. General Motors reported that sales in the quarter rose nearly 17%, although it did not break out how much of that gain came in March compared to earlier in the year.It also saw stronger sales for some of its models imported from Mexico and South Korea. All five automakers reported strong sales of electric vehicles in the quarter. That comes as the $7,500 tax credit for buyers of many EV models is at risk of disappearing under the Trump administration, which said it plans to do away with the support for electric vehicles over gasoline powered models. Most major automakers are due to report US sales for the first quarter or for March later Tuesday. Auto tariffs are just one part of a larger tariff push this week from the Trump administration. President Trump will likely unveil his plans for reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday from the Rose Garden, the White House announced on Tuesday, though the details remain in flux.