With tariffs of 25% now in place on goods from both Canada and Mexico, shoppers at a D.C.-area grocery store are voicing concern that it will affect them at the checkout.
“I feel like groceries are already so expensive, and it’s concerning that they’re going to go up even more. And I worry about people that are lower class and even the middle class,” Ava Velasco told WTOP outside the Trader Joe’s on Leesburg Pike in Falls Church, Virginia.
On Tuesday, Trump’s 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico went into effect, along with a 20% levy on Chinese goods. All three countries announced retaliatory measures.
One piece of produce seemed to be on everyone’s mind, and that’s avocados.
“I love avocados, and I buy them every time here at Trader Joe’s. So yeah, that’s going to be a concern,” said Anne Namabiro before her weekly shopping run.
Bill Whitaker said he believes a lot of the produce he pulls could come from our neighbors south of the border.
“A lot of fruit, maybe juices. I think about avocados, obviously. I don’t know that we eat anything on a regular basis from China or from Canada, but it might be, well, yeah, once a year, or something like that,” Whitaker said.
Ultimately, they said they hope these tariffs are pulled before it affects their grocery bill too much.
“I hope that they come to some agreements and stop this tit-tat. It feels like a game, but it’s people’s lives, people’s livelihoods, that are going to be affected at the end of the day,” Namabiro said.
“Nobody wants higher prices, and this doesn’t seem like it’s a — it seems like an avoidable thing,” Whitaker added.
Most shoppers agreed with Whitaker that it probably won’t change their shopping habits too much, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not affecting us.”
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