US import prices ease, but tariffs casting shadow over inflation

Lucia Mutikani - Reuters - 15/04
U.S. import prices unexpectedly fell in March, pulled down by decreasing costs for energy products, the latest indication that inflation was subsiding before President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs came into effect.
  • Import prices decrease 0.1% in March; up 0.9% year-on-year
  • Prices for imports from China fall 0.2%; down 0.9% year-on-year
WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - U.S. import prices unexpectedly fell in March, pulled down by decreasing costs for energy products, the latest indication that inflation was subsiding before President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs came into effect.
Import prices dipped 0.1% last month, the first decline since September, after a downwardly revised 0.2% gain in February, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, would be unchanged following a previously reported 0.4% increase in February.

Sign up here.

"There is likely to be a very painful and costly transition for the U.S. economy as Trump 2.0 tries to turn back the clock and go back to making things in America," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS. "Import prices are not adding much to inflation for now, but the future outlook remains very much in doubt and not in a good way."
In the 12 months through March, import prices advanced 0.9% after increasing 1.6% the prior month. Data last week showed consumer and producer prices easing in March. The White Hou...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]