Marketplace All-in-One The price is never right anymore
Feb 19, 2026
Daniel Ackerman, wholesale inventory reporter who covers supply-chain shifts. Kristen Schwab, economics reporter exploring how shoppers perceive prices. Sabree Beneshore, business reporter on trade and tariffs. They discuss why Americans misjudge prices, how tariffs have not cut the trade deficit, and wholesale inventories stabilizing after tariff-driven disruptions.
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Tariffs Didn’t Shrink Trade Deficit
- Tariffs haven't reduced the U.S. trade deficit; they reshuffle costs and can strengthen the dollar, blunting export gains.
- Other forces like foreign investment flows and AI-driven computer imports offset tariff effects on the trade balance.
Tariff Pain For Small Apparel Firms
- Fran Dunaway at Tomboy X described paying tariffs so high they flipped profitability, sometimes exceeding operating losses.
- Companies scrambled by shifting production and front-loading imports to dodge sudden tariff hikes.
Shoppers Lose Track Of Real Prices
- Consumers have grown worse at judging prices as online variety, dynamic pricing and constant discounts proliferate.
- High inflation spikes make people more price-attentive, but recent shopping complexity erodes their price sense.