American Shoppers Continue Pay Price for Trump’s Cost-Raising Iran War

PROVIDENCE, RI – President Trump’s disastrous war with Iran has not led to security gains but continues causing higher prices. Across America, Trump’s war and misguided economic policies are contributing to higher costs and lighter wallets due to Trump-imposed tariff taxes, increased grocery costs, and Trump-flation. “People are struggling – they feel it every time they check out at the grocery store or fuel up at the pump. What’s different about this price spike and previous ones is that this one is man-made and can be directly attributed to President Trump’s reckless war and irresponsible economic policies. President Trump has slapped backdoor tariff taxes all over items at the grocery store and his terrible Middle East policy has surged fuel costs which drives up the price of not just gas, but shipping for nearly every product Americans buy. He needs to change course in order to lower prices, make things better, and get our economy back on track,” said Senator Reed. Consumer prices overall are up 3.7 percent from a year ago, outpacing wage growth. When it comes to high grocery prices, it is not just an economic issue, but also a health issue because higher prices often make healthy eating less affordable. Four in five respondents (80.5 percent) of a survey by Self Financial said rising food prices have made it harder to maintain a healthy diet over the past year. Only 19.5 percent said prices had not made healthy eating harder. The price of candy and treats has also shot up under Trump’s nightmare economic policies. With Halloween around the corner, a report by Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation shows that the price of popular Halloween candy has increased by more than 15 percent over the last year, which is several times the overall rate of inflation during the same period. The biggest price jump – 39 percent – was for a sour gummy candy variety pack from candy giant Mondelez, a publicly traded company that produces Sour Patch Kids . Other notable price hikes included the Hershey variety pack, which increased by nearly 20 percent; the Ferrero chocolate pack (which includes candy bars like Butterfingers, Baby Ruth, 100 Grand and more) rose by 19 percent; the Mars chocolate variety pack, which increased by over 13 percent; and Tootsie seasonal lollipops, which increased by over 7 percent. The report notes that Trump’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the aluminum tariffs he imposed on Canada have impacted candy prices by driving up packaging and shipping costs for sweets. “Americans are being haunted by Trump’s high prices. Instead of ‘trick-or-treat’ this year, it’s Trump’s ‘trick-and-tariff’ causing people to pay more for candy, costumes, and decorations. He is irresponsibly causing prices to rise and we need to change course and adopt more fiscally-responsible policies that will help lower costs for working Americans,” said Reed. The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that Halloween spending would reach $13.5 billion this year across the country, up from last year's record $13.1 billion.