From clothes to medicine, U.S. consumers facing higher prices

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war is coming for Americans' wardrobe, and the hardest-hit items will be the simple stuff, CNN reported recently, noting that American customers will say goodbye to the $5 T-shirt due to the new tariffs.

The news agency pointed out that the U.S. imports more than 98 percent of its clothing.

Data complied by the Yale University Budget Lab shows short-term consumer price increases of 65 percent for clothes and 87 percent for leather goods could be possible, noting U.S. tariffs "disproportionately affect" those goods.

In a letter sent to the White House, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned against "irreparable harm" to small businesses and a potential economic recession, calling for immediate tariff relief.

In a statement released on Thursday, the chamber said it had sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday.

"The Chamber requests the administration take immediate action to save America's small businesses and stave off a recession," the letter read.

A 25 percent U.S. tariff on pharmaceutical imports would increase U.S. drug costs by nearly $51 billion annually, boosting U.S. prices by as much as 12.9 percent if passed on, a report commissioned by the industry's U.S. trade group and reviewed by Reuters shows.

The analysis, conducted by Ernst and Young, found the United States imported $203 billion in pharmaceutical products in 2023, with 73 percent coming from Europe, primarily Ireland, Germany and Switzerland. Total U.S. sales of finished pharmaceuticals that year were $393 billion.

Most Americans are bracing for higher prices on a wide range of consumer goods following U.S.' tariffs, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, which pointed out that some 57 percent of poll respondents, including one quarter of respondents from Trump's Republican Party, said they opposed Trump's new tariffs.

(With input from agencies)