As Companies Plot Price Hikes, GOP Congress Urged to End Trump Tariffs

A national campaign "to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people" took aim at Republicans in Congress on Monday in response to reporting that US companies are planning another round of price hikes due to President Donald Trump's tariffs.

"Companies had raised prices last year after tariffs hoisted costs. Yet starting in the fall, many firms held off on increases and sometimes offered discounts to capture holiday shoppers," the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. "The pricing break is over."

"Some companies have pointed a finger at tariffs for their increases, while others, especially small businesses, also blame higher wages and hefty health insurance costs that firms said they can't absorb or share with suppliers," the Journal detailed.

Citing a December survey of 600 entrepreneurs by Vistage Worldwide, the newspaper noted that "more than half of small business leaders said they planned to increase prices in the next three months," and "nearly 70% planned increases of 4% to 10%, while another 10% forecast increases of more than 10%."

In a Monday statement about the reporting, Unrig Our Economy campaign director Leor Tal declared that "Americans are once again bracing for higher costs thanks to Republican-backed tariffs. Republicans in Congress have the power to end these cost-raising policies, but instead are voting to rubber-stamp them and put more strain on their constituents."

Last Wednesday, all but six Republicans in the GOP-controlled US House of Representatives opposed a resolution expressing disapproval of Trump's tariffs targeting Canada. Shortly before the vote, the president said on his Truth Social platform, "Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!"

Tal said Monday that "from pushing for the largest cuts to healthcare in history, to backing tariffs that raise the price of everyday goods for Americans, Republicans in Congress have made life less affordable for their constituents at every turn—all while giving billionaires massive tax breaks."

GOP lawmakers stuffed those tax breaks into the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed last summer. The budget package also featured massive cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and did not extend tax credits that helped millions buy health insurance on Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges.

Subsequent efforts to continue the ACA subsidies—which lapsed at the end of last year—have also failed. That means millions of Americans now face skyrocketing health insurance premiums alongside rising costs tied to policies that include Trump's tariffs.

Trump often insists that foreign producers pay for his tariffs, but a major study released last month by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank, made clear that—in line with decades of economic research—US businesses and consumers are largely paying for the president's taxes on imports.

Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee last month released another report showing that the average American family paid $1,625 in higher costs last year due to tariffs and other Trump policies. In some states—including Alaska, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York—the impact for the typical household exceeded $2,000.