Inflation, gas prices, tariffs are squeezing consumers

The price of a can of CocaCola? Likely going up. A package of Pampers? That too. Plane tickets? They also may be more expensive. These items and more may cost more in the coming months as people start feeling the effects of higher fuel prices and raw-material costs as well as a range of tariffs.

Janette Hendricks said she has noticed higher prices on “just about everything” in the past three months or so. That’s put a little pressure on the recently retired nurse in Washington. So she goes shopping less often, “makes things stretch,” and she always shops for things on sale.

“The economy is doing great, so why is everyone doing so poorly?” she asked.

The consumer price index, the government’s primary measure of inflation, rose 2.9 percent in June from a year earlier, the fastest increase in six years. Starbucks had said in June that it had raised the price of a regular drip coffee, Because of tariffs on aluminum and steel, cans of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke are likely to cost more. and McDonald’s said it raised prices when it reported its latest sales figures.

Procter & Gamble, one of the biggest makers of consumer products, said Tuesday that Pampers prices will increase by an average of 4 percent in North America, while the Bounty, Charmin and Puffs brands could see 5 percent increases.

Gas prices have already surged more than 24 percent in the past year. Rent and other housing costs were up 3.4 percent in June compared to a year earlier, and auto insurance has jumped more than 7 percent.

Some of the higher prices come as companies react to the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel, aluminum, lumber from Canada, and on $34 billion of imports from China. Beijing has imposed new duties on U.S. exports as well.

Overall, the aluminum and steel tariffs could cost the U.S. beverage industry nearly $348 million, according to the Beer Institute. Coca Cola has announced plans to raise prices, citing the cost of raw materials and packaging, though the impact on retailers and consumers is hard to gauge.

“Clearly, it’s disruptive for us. It’s disruptive for our customers,” Coca Cola Co. CEO James Quincey said in a call with investors last week.

Caterpillar, which makes construction and agricultural equipment, said it plans to raise prices to offset the steel and material cost increases.

And the National Association of Home Builders estimates that the tariffs the Trump administration placed on Canadian softwood lumber — along with other factors — have increased the cost of constructing a house by $7,000. Both building permits and ground breakings slowed in June, according to the Commerce Department.