Utah markets prepare for price hikes on imported goods, after Trump’s tariffs

Owners of some specialty markets in Utah are anticipating they will have to raise their prices on imported goods — everything from chocolate and cheeses to olive oil and tropical fruit — because of President Donald Trump’s 10% universal tariff on imports.

“The question won’t be if we raise our prices,” said Matt Caputo, CEO of Caputo’s Market and Deli, which sells goods from about 60 countries. “It’ll be to what extent and when.”

And Eli Madrigal, CEO of Rancho Market, which sells items from around the world, wrote in a text that when her nine Utah stores run through their current inventory of certain imported goods, “we have to start at new prices from distributors,” whatever those might be.

Store owners are also grappling with a lot of “uncertainty,” said Steven Rosenberg, founder of Liberty Heights Fresh, which focuses on regional products but also sells items from Europe, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Mexico and other countries.

Rosenberg said it’s too early to have a clear picture of what exactly price increases will look like, and which specific imported items will be affected by the tariff.

“I really don’t want to speculate,” he said. “The only thing I can say is, when our costs go up, we have no choice but to raise our retail prices. We work on thin margins as it is, and we’re a very small market.”

Rising prices

On April 2, Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs on imported goods from almost 60 countries, beyond a 10% baseline tariff that would be applied to all imports to the United States. The decision prompted a sharp decline in major stock markets, and concerns from experts that a recession could be imminent.

On Wednesday, the day the higher tariffs would’ve gone into effect, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs, except for a 125% levy against China. The White House also said it would maintain the 10% baseline tariff on all countries’ goods, the BBC reported.

According to a full list of all the tariffs by country on CBS News, Cambodia would have faced a 49% tariff and imports from Vietnam would have been charged a 46% levy, for example, had the “reciprocal” tariffs gone into effect. But Mexico, which wasn’t included on the list of “reciprocal” tariffs, will just face the 10% universal tariff.

CBS News explained that the higher tariffs would’ve been paid by American businesses that import goods from those countries, and that economists had expected those businesses to pass off the new tariffs to American consumers.

In the case of Rancho Market, Madrigal said she expects prices to go up on plantains, bananas, cantaloupe and banana leaves from Guatemala; cassava, pineapple and squash from Costa Rica; mangos, shrimp and dragonfruit from Ecuador; cinnamon and other spices from Sri Lanka; passion fruit and coffee from Colombia; and, especially, tilapia and garlic from China.

Madrigal said she doesn’t have a lot of control over her prices, since the prices for perishable food fluctuate according to the market.

On Friday, Madrigal said she got a letter from one of her suppliers, saying it would be raising its prices 6% to 12% on goods from Central and South America.

At Caputo’s, which has about 200 suppliers both foreign and domestic, Matt Caputo said he and his team are operating under the new assumption that products from the people they import from are going to be 10% more expensive. “And the way that we’re dealing with that is on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

What that means for Caputo’s customers, Caputo said, is that they can expect a price hike on imported goods ranging from zero to 10% beginning in about 30 to 90 days.

Those price increases will be especially pronounced on chocolate and certain tinned fish, especially canned tuna, Caputo said.

Chocolate already has an extra 6% tariff on it, and canned tuna, which Caputo sources from Spain and Portugal, already has an extra 35% tariff on it. Both levies have been in place for years, since the early days of the importing company, called A Priori, that Caputo started in 2006 with his wife, Yelena Caputo.

That means imported chocolate, like the Marou bars from Vietnam, will actually have a 16% tariff, factoring in the new 10% universal tariff. And canned tuna will have a 45% tariff on it, with that 10% universal tariff added on.

But really any imported product, especially certain charcuterie supplies and pasta, will likely see a price hike, Caputo said.

“I think the whole entire food industry, regardless of where the product comes from, is going to experience an increase in prices,” he said. “The good news is, I think because of our close relationships and our direct relationships with our suppliers, I honestly think our prices at Caputo’s will go up less than average around the industry.”

Marie Wang, a manager at H Mart in West Jordan, the first Utah location of the Asian grocery chain, said via email that “we are planning to follow the policy from headquarters when it comes down to future policies” regarding tariffs.

‘Everything else is imitation’

One reason Trump cites for the new tariff, CBS News reported, is that he believes it will boost domestic manufacturing. Caputo and Rosenberg, however, said there are some things that just can’t be produced in America.

Some cheeses, for example, can only come from certain parts of Europe.

“People who like a nice piece of Gruyere or Appenzeller aren’t going to settle for what’s made in imitation from a state in the United States,” Rosenberg said. “Sure, there are some great cheese makers around this country, but they don’t make the real thing. You can’t get Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from anywhere but the Po valley of Italy, and everything else is imitation.”

Caputo said cacao isn’t produced in the United States, except for a small amount grown in Hawaii.

“From a chocolate standpoint, since no chocolate is essentially made from cacao grown in America, it’s all getting more expensive,” he said. “There’s no possible way that it’s going to be cheaper from any producer of America or anywhere. Same thing with coffee. Coffee’s not grown in America.”

Rosenberg cited olive oil as another product that America isn’t able to make.

“More than 90% of the extra virgin olive oil purchased and consumed by American citizens is imported,” he said. “We do not have the agricultural capacity to meet the ever-increasing demand for this single product here on U.S. soil. Trees take five to seven years to begin producing millable fruit.”

Rosenberg said it’s difficult right now to make any solid business decisions in reaction to the tariff, since the situation continues to change. But he’s determined to stick it out.

“We will persevere because we’re Americans,” Rosenberg said. “We will persevere because we love our customers and we love the people who make the food we sell. But it isn’t going to be easy. …”