NORWOOD, Mass. — Shamia Allen is a single mother of four. Monday, she dropped $400 on groceries at Wal-Mart. Her thoughts on the economy?
“Donald Trump, please stop,” she said. “It’s enough. We are terrified.”
What terrifies Allen is the tight financial squeeze she’s in every week.
“We’re over here struggling, trying to accommodate with the best means we’ve got,” she said. “Here I am working two jobs. I’m trying to make ends meet. It’s a stressful situation.”
Allen’s two jobs — one as a ramp agent at Logan Airport, the other at the Norwood Post Office — enable her to buy food, barely. But it’s not enough to fund a replacement for the dented old Chevy she’s driving.
“Prices on gas, prices on food, prices on furniture, prices on cars,” she said. “I need a new vehicle. Who’s gonna help me do that?”
One thing that likely won’t help Allen do that are tariffs.
“I have a client who runs a local repair shop,” said David Shapiro, Regional Director of Wealth at Johnson Brunetti investing. “They’re excited because people may keep their vehicles longer.”
Financially, they may have little choice. Cox Automotive pegged the average national price for a used car at about $25,000. CarEdge reported new car prices averaged about $49,000.
Shapiro said tariffs would likely raise prices on even U.S.-made vehicles — given they are assembled using a number of foreign parts which would, presumably, be subject to tariffs. CarMax said tariffs on new cars would probably increase sales of used cars — but that could, in turn, cause a supply problem that forces up pre-owned car prices, too.
President Trump’s stated goals in imposing tariffs is to encourage trade fairness and increase manufacture of goods in the U.S. Shapiro said there are some encouraging — albeit early — signs on those fronts — with automakers discussing relocation of factories to the United States.
“As that happens, there’s going to be substantial new factories that are going to be built,” he said. “That could drive employment. It all works together, but it’s not going to be quick. You can’t just get one of these plants up and running over a weekend.”
One potential glitch: Shapiro said much of the machinery used in the manufacture of big ticket consumer goods is built overseas.
Consumers could also feel a price sting when purchasing appliances — many of which are made outside the U.S.
“I have a lot of clients that are making a decision now that maybe were on the fence waiting for a different time of year on appliances,” Shapiro said. “Because all of a sudden that refrigerator, which has parts coming in from so many different areas, is going to be 15, 20 percent more expensive, some are maybe accelerating purchasing these items now instead of waiting. Sometimes the known is better than the unknown.”
Shapiro said the big problem IS the unknown. It’s what’s driving the stock market down and confusing consumers as to when — or if — to buy big ticket items.
“It’s going to take some time,” he said. “And there isn’t even clarity on what those tariffs look like. It seems to us there are these big tarrifs announced but they’re not in place yet.”
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