As President Donald Trump’s first year back in office comes to a close, the cost of his administration’s poor trade and economic policies is showing up on store shelves and in household budgets. This holiday season, the weight of these policies is especially pronounced as Americans prepare for gift-giving and time with friends and family.
The administration’s broad tariffs, implemented earlier this year, have contributed to increased inflation—a 0.7 percentage-point rise in the consumer price index as of August 2025—as well as higher prices across a wide range of goods commonly bought during the holiday season, including cold weather clothing and accessories, jewelry, and small household appliances. Tariffs are even increasing the cost to build a new home by $17,500, which will further burden anyone looking to buy a home.
Prices for everyday household essentials such as laundry and cleaning supplies, along with common food items such as meat and fruit, have also risen noticeably. According to analysis from the Harvard Business Pricing Lab, the administration’s tariffs go beyond raising the cost of imported goods, which rose 4.0 percent between March and September 2025: Prices for domestically produced goods increased 2.0 percent during the same time.
Throughout 2025, many retailers shielded consumers from tariffs by absorbing tariff costs, increasing inventory during tariff pauses, and shifting costs to other products. But each of these strategies is time-limited. As long as the Trump administration’s tariffs remain in place, American households should expect even higher prices in 2026.
In a new column, CAP examines how the Trump administration's tariffs are driving up consumer prices, contributing to broader inflationary pressure, and further straining household budgets
Year 1 of the second Trump administration made the working class weaker
Photo: Getty Images
President Donald Trump promised to be a “champion for the American worker,” but his administration’s actions are setting workers without a college degree up for failure.
The first year of the second Trump administration resulted in job losses, slowing wage growth, and rising costs for working-class Americans compared with the beginning of 2025. With a difficult labor market, wages that are not rising fast enough, and weaker unions and labor standards, working families are finding it harder to deal with rising costs for essentials including electricity, food, and household appliances.
CAP analysis shows that even after accounting for inflation:
Overall employment for workers without college degrees fell by 361,000 jobs from January to September 2025.
58,000 net manufacturing jobs have been lost from April, when the administration announced “Liberation Day” tariffs, to September 2025.
Wage growth has slowed from January to September 2025 for workers without college degrees.
Household electricity costs were 9 percent higher in August than they were in January this year.
Tariffs have increased prices for household appliances by 5.6 percent, fruit by 5.5 percent, and meat by 6.2 percent from March to November 2025 compared with their pre-tariff price trends.
This year, CAP launched “What’s Next: Conversations on the Path Forward,” a flagship event series bringing together national leaders to explain how they are fighting back against the authoritarianism of the Trump administration, and equally importantly, chart out their visions to build a stronger America
These conversations matter. They elevate real solutions, ground public debate in substance, and bring leading voices directly to the public at a moment when facts, ideas, and governing vision are urgently needed. But hosting this work—and keeping it free and accessible—depends on supporters like you.
Your support today means CAP can continue asking the hard questions, spotlighting real solutions, and bringing together the leaders shaping the road ahead.
Listening to survivors in the wake of last weekend’s mass shootings at Brown University and Bondi Beach
The mass shooting at Brown University and the deadly attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney have left communities grieving on opposite sides of the world, but the contrast is stark: Australian leaders are moving swiftly to strengthen gun laws, while President Trump responded to Brown by shrugging, “Things can happen.”
Our resolve to keep fighting for real solutions to prevent gun violence comes from young leaders like Mia Tretta, a friend of CAP who has been a selfless violence prevention advocate since being shot at her California high school at age 15. She’s currently a student at Brown University, dealing with a lockdown, manhunt, and uncertainty no student should experience. Over the past several years, when she hasn’t been studying or interning at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, she’s brought her advocacy to CAP to discuss policy, remind us of the importance of centering the voices of gunshot survivors, and deliver opening remarks at CAP’s 10th National Gun Violence Prevention Summit in 2024. During these challenging times, let’s take a moment to learn from future leaders like Mia.
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