Fed’s Beige Book economic report warned that “manufacturers reported raising prices of finished goods out of necessity.” Such price hikes were attributed to higher raw materials costs “which they attributed to tariffs.” Though, overall inflation pressure were just “modest-to-moderate” in all districts. In the 32-page report, the word “tariff” or its derivations were mentioned a total of 51 times. And, with the exception of St. Louis, all districts made reference to tariffs one way or the other. That’s quite a sharp jump from 42 times in September.
For example, In Dallas, it’s noted that “among manufacturers, roughly 60 percent of contacts said the tariffs announced and/or implemented this year have resulted in increased input costs. The share was even higher among retailers, at 70 percent.” In Minneapolis, “a producer of dry beans reported that a large regular annual order from European Union countries was canceled due to tariffs.” In Philadelphia, “other firms reported difficulty meeting the prices of foreign competitors who are not exposed to tariffs on the primary input commodities of their products.”
