Steel tariffs' spike could imperil promise of lower grocery prices

President Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum could hit Americans in an unexpected place: grocery aisles.

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The announcement on Friday of a staggering 50% levy on those imports stoked fear that big-ticket purchases from cars to washing machines to houses could see major price increases.

But those metals are so ubiquitous in packaging, they're likely to pack a punch across consumer products from soup to nuts.

"Rising grocery prices would be part of the ripple effects," says Usha Haley, an expert on trade and professor at Wichita State University, who added that the tariffs could raise costs across industries and further strain ties with allies "without aiding a long-term US manufacturing revival."

Trump's return to the White House has come with an unrivaled barrage of tariffs, with levies threatened, added and, often, taken away, in such a whiplash-inducing frenzy it's hard to keep up.

He insisted the latest tariff hike was necessary to "even further secure the steel industry in the US."

That promise, though, could be at odds with his pledge to reduce food costs.

Rising grocery prices, Trump has said, were among the biggest reasons voters swung his way. A look around a supermarket makes clear how many products could be impacted by new taxes on steel and aluminum, from beer and soda to dog food to can after can of beans, fruit, tomato paste and more.