The Federal Reserve Board published a FEDS Note analysing tariff-related retail price changes in 2025 using transaction-level spending data and product country-of-origin information. The note finds that tariff-related price pressure emerged gradually rather than as a one-time spike, with the largest effects concentrated in goods imported from China, where prices were up about 8.5% year on year by December 2025 and implied consumer pass-through of at least 30% from April to December 2025. The analysis constructs a quantity-weighted Fisher Price Index from item-level purchases by a representative panel of up to 200,000 US households (January 2018 to December 2025), and validates the resulting index against the Bureau of Economic Analysis Personal Consumption Expenditures food deflator. Country-specific indices are built by matching purchases to country-of-origin data, covering roughly 27,000 products and a limited subset of the broader consumption basket. Disaggregated results show year-over-year inflation on imported goods was close to zero through April 2025, then increased steadily for Chinese imports and rose to over 5% for products sourced from other countries by December, while US-produced goods averaged below 2% in 2025; an event-study framework suggests a delayed retail response after the April 2025 tariff announcements, with economically meaningful increases becoming more evident later in the year.
United States Federal Reserve Board research finds 2025 tariffs gradually raised retail prices with China-imported goods up 8.5% year on year
The Federal Reserve Board's FEDS Note analyzes 2025 tariff-related retail price changes, revealing gradual price pressure, particularly on Chinese imports, which saw an 8.5% year-on-year increase by December 2025. Using a quantity-weighted Fisher Price Index validated against Bureau of Economic Analysis data, it shows a consumer pass-through of at least 30% from April to December 2025. Disaggregated results indicate a delayed retail response to tariffs, with significant price increases evident later in the year.