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That's according to findings from the Financial Times (FT) published Monday (Aug. 11), after the news outlet surveyed businesses in St. Louis.
These companies said their suppliers had raised prices on a range of products recently, in some cases by up to 30%, forcing them to pass these costs onto their customers. While many had stockpiled products priced at pre-tariff levels, those suppliers have since run down.
"I believe inflation will increase as each item that was in inventory is replaced by a new one," said Justin Breckle, CEO of Authorized Appliance, which sells high-end kitchens, barbecues and washing machines.
"What we're seeing with new products is they're all being marked up," said Mike Weiss, owner of the St. Louis-based Big Shark Bicycle Company chain. "We're seeing an average 10% increase in the retail price."
A bike that would have sold for about $730 before the tariffs were announced was now retailing for $800, Weiss added. "Normally we would reprice things on an annual basis, not daily," he said. "The goalposts keep moving."
The FT notes that this trend is backed by several recent surveys. For example, the July small business optimism index from the National Federation of Independent Business showed 32% of companies planning to increase prices, the most since March last year.
Another recent survey from the Census Bureau found that 34% of businesses planned to raise prices in the next six months, up from 29% just weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, some small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are struggling to get funded, as PYMNTS wrote last week.
When the tariffs began to take root earlier this year, research from PYMNTS Intelligence -- baked on a survey of 560 firms -- found that a minority (36%) had access to readily available cash, including an additional 8% that also had cash in the bank. As a result, 20% of the SMBs surveyed said they might not be able to withstand the tariffs.
"Perhaps it's no wonder, then, that they are looking beyond traditional banks, and especially larger financial institutions (FIs), to gain access to the capital they need to expand, or simply keep the status quo," the report added. "PYMNTS and Visa found in a survey that 37% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) indicate that they'd be 'highly interested' in switching to embedded lending options, which offers online platforms a significant market."