Someone Has To Pay

Increases in tariffs, this year, are likely to push up prices and weigh on economic activity.  The effects on inflation could be short-lived, reflecting a one-time shift in the price level.  It’s also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent. ...

Because someone has to pay for the tariffs, and it will be someone in that chain that I mentioned, between the manufacturer, the exporter, the importer, the retailer, ultimately somebody putting it into a good of some kind or just the consumer buying it.

All through that chain, people will be trying not to be the ones who can take up the cost, but ultimately, the cost of the tariff has to be paid.  And some of it will fall on the end consumer.

-- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at a press conference after the Federal Reserve declined to lower interest rates, nj.com (18 June 2025)