US foodies brace for tariff war

American gourmets are scrambling to stock up on their favourite imported foodstuffs before Donald Trump's costly tariffs inflate prices on the shelves.

Tariffs are a "disastrously bad idea", wrote James Surowiecki for business brand Fast Company. They lead to "higher prices on everything", from coffee and tea to bananas and strawberries – which is why some US consumers are stockpiling their larders while they can.

'Strategic' reserves

With tariff trepidation spreading, readers of The New York Times have been sharing their tales of store-cupboard-stashing. "I call it my strategic coffee reserve," said one reader, who bought 16lbs of Colombian coffee at Costco the day after Colombia was threatened with tariffs. "I like looking at it. It makes me feel safe". Other readers have built up a surplus of Canadian maple syrup, Mexican avocados ("rock hard and in bulk") and EU olive oil.

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And it's not just imported food that's vulnerable to tariff-related price hikes; the luxury drinks market is, too. Imported spirits and "bubbly, from sparkling water to Moet Hennessy", may all see a price rise, said CNBC.

Some punters saw this coming: EU wine exports to the US "surged" in November 2024, the month of Trump's election victory, said Euractiv, while trade data shows that French cognac-makers ramped up shipments to the US in December, ahead of Trump taking office in January, said Reuters.

'Can you afford fries with that?'

Perhaps most importantly of all – and beyond all the high-end foodie fears – Trump's "tariff war" with its closest neighbour will "hit Americans where it hurts: in the French fries", said Canada's The Globe and Mail.

The US imports $4.8 billion (33.7 billion) in canola oil and $1.7 billion (£1.3 billion) in frozen French fries from Canada every year. Many American restaurants and diners depend on the high profit margin offered by fries, so any additional costs could be "a potential death sentence". And, surely, "the thought of replacing, 'Do you want fries with that?' with, 'Can you afford fries with that?' is a threat to the American way of life".

It could also prove "too much to bear" for the American "who matters most": President Trump has "long expressed a love" for a Big Mac and fries.