DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - With a new round of tariffs set to go into effect on Wednesday, consumers could soon be paying more for items like appliances, electronics and clothes, so some shoppers across South Florida tried to get ahead of the potential price increases.
7News cameras captured shoppers who flocked to a Best Buy location in Southwest Miami-Dade on Tuesday, hours before the new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are set to take effect.
“I would like to start buying things before it gets bad,” said shopper Julio Iglesias.
“Just looking to see what prices are,” said shopper David Solomon.
7News also spoke with customers at a Best Buy location in Davie, like Nate Sincere, who bought himself a new computer.
“I thought this was from USA, ’cause it’s ASUS, but it’s from Taiwan. I didn’t know, like, Taiwan made it,” he said.
Panic purchasing picked up this week, as South Floridians clear shop shelves in anticipation of rising prices.
At midnight on Wednesday, the much-discussed tariffs go into effect, including the 32% levied on goods from Taiwan — even though that country has been open to negotiation — and that could have met more out of pocket for Sincere.
“I already spent like $1,800 on this, so 32% of that, that’s like $300, $400 more,” said Sincere.
Richard Barnett, Chief Marketing Officer at Supplyframe, spoke with 7News about the matter.
“We might see this over the next few months, kind of in two waves,” he said. One is, ‘Well, look at the increase in cost week to week,’ and then, ‘OK, wait a minute, I’m surprised by something I thought may not have been obviously impacted is now seeing shortages or cost increases.'”
Some shoppers did not wait to stock up on big ticket items ahead of the potential increase.
“Maybe a couple of TVs, maybe a couple computers,” said shopper Jacob Turner.
Shoppers picked up Samsung, Sony and LG flat-screens and other electronics, as products manufactured outside of the U.S. flew off shelves.
“Whether it’s consumer electronics, appliances, you know, it could be laptops, you know, general purpose electronics are going to be, you know, that inventory will then be burned off or consumed,” said Barnett.
Laura Rodriguez bought a printer Tuesday night, simply because she needed one, but she said she is paying attention.
“It’s just a little uncertain what the future holds, with everything going on so, you know, it’s kind of time to pull in and, you know, tighten the hatches with expenses and stuff like that,” she said.
Barnett said the pain in the pocketbook for big-ticket items like iPhones, computers and other electronics is something purchasers should prepare to see come in waves.
“And then, we’re gonna see another wave of price changes and increases that really reflect the net new products moving through the supply chain into retail,” he said.
But not everyone is overly concerned at the moment.
“I’m really not worried about tariffs at all,” said shopper Turner. “I think it’ll actually be a good thing for the country overall, in the long term. Of course, there’s gonna be some headwinds in the short term, but yeah, whatever I need to buy, I’m just gonna buy it. and hope for the best”
These shopper called their saving habits their safety net.
“I think prices are going to go up a little bit. I think most people will probably be impacted on a day-to-day basis, but in terms of large-ticket prices, you know, purchasing things, I’m not really worried about it, you know?” said shopper Justin Staten. “I think those are things you budget for in the long term.”
Sincere said he’s glad he got the computer on Tuesday.
“The company is not going to pay for it; we’re going to suffer for it,” he said.
“People are gonna be affected. We just don’t know how yet,” said Rodriguez, “but yeah, absolutely, because there’s a lot of stuff that’s not made here that we assume could be.”
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