Shoes, Toys and More Are Seeing Price Hikes as Tariffs Hit

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Shoes, Toys and More Are Seeing Price Hikes as Tariffs Hit.

general :: 2025-07-30 :: source - investopedia

By Sarina Trangle

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images. Hoka parent Deckers has recently lifted prices in some of its products.

Key Takeaways

Tariffs are compelling some companies to charge more for shoes, toys and other consumer goods.
Their insights comes as the Trump administration's approach to trade grows clearer; the U.S. reached a pact with the European Union and is approaching a deadline for negotiating with several other nations.
Besides raising prices, corporations are restructuring, offering fewer products and, in some cases, adding domestic manufacturing capacity.

The prices of many of Americans’ common purchases are rising, with tariffs lifting the cost of items from shoes to toys and beyond.

Companies are offering fresh insights into the effect the Trump administration’s trade policy is having on their businesses alongside their results from the second quarter, which includes their performance in the wake of April's "Liberation Day" tariffs. The updates are landing as President Donald Trump's trade policy comes into clearer view, with the U.S. striking a pact with the European Union and scheduled to conclude negotiations with many nations on Friday.

Shoe company Deckers Outdoor (DECK) and children’s apparel group Carter’s (CRI) raised some prices and expect to increase others in the coming months. Besides increasing prices, some corporations are bolstering domestic manufacturing, changing their supply chains and offering fewer imported products in the U.S., executives said. Some companies held off on making major pricing decisions, while businesses like Walmart (WMT) warned early on that they would pass on at least some expense to consumers.

Carter’s, known for OshKosh B'gosh children’s attire, started raising rates for wholesalers in late June as a way to tackle the $125 million to $150 million CFO Richard Westenberger says tariffs will amount to annually.

“We have a long heritage of being a high-operating-margin business,” Westenberger said on a conference call last week. “We have no interest in running a lower-margin business, particularly due to tariffs.”

As Prices Are Lifted, Concerns About What's 'Palatable'

Deckers, parent company of Ugg and Hoka, raised some prices by about $5 this month, CFO Steven Fasching said on a conference call last week. It plans to gradually bump up other prices to account for the $185 million jump in costs of goods sold it may incur this year because of tariffs and other expenses, Deckers executives said.

The toy giants Mattel (MAT) and Hasbro (HAS) are charging more to mitigate the roughly $100 million and $60 million, respectively, in tariffs they expect to incur this year, they said last week.

Hasbro, which sells Play-Doh and My Little Pony toys, is also diversifying its sourcing, looking into making more items in the US and reducing how many products it sells domestically, CFO Gina Goetter said.

“If the product itself couldn't kind of survive huge pricing—because it would have just popped … to a price point that was just not going to be palatable for the consumer—we've taken decisions to not bring that product into the U.S.,” Goetter said, according to a transcript.

Tariff Effects Seen in Consumer Goods, Books and Cars

Companies’ comfort with price increases varies. New prices and a recent company restructuring will “more than offset” the cost of tariffs at Scholastic (SCHL), the educational book publisher said last week. Procter & Gamble (PG) executives said that some consumers may be deterred as it charges more for some of its toiletries and household goods.

Procter & Gamble will increase prices by a mid-single digit percent—often while incorporating a product “innovation”—for about a quarter of U.S. merchandise that is subject to tariffs, CFO Andre Schulten said Tuesday. That's part of a strategy to blunt the $900 million annual impact of tariffs, along with discontinuing products, operating in fewer markets and a restructuring that will reduce non-manufacturing personnel by 15% over the next two years, its leaders said.

Some car companies are looking at moving some of their manufacturing capacity to the U.S. General Motors (GM) is investing $4 billion in adding domestic assembly capacity, CEO Mary Barra said last week. Despite projecting tariff expenses in the billions, the company plans to keep price increases at 1% or less this year, CFO Paul Jacobson said.

READ: 3 Things Analysts Are Watching as Earnings Season Gets Rolling This Week

Germany's Volkswagen is talking directly with the White House about investing in U.S. production, executives said last week. Volkswagen incurred about $1.5 billion in tariff expenses throughout the first half of the year and saw its deliveries to the U.S. plunge.