US prices for China-made goods sold on Amazon rising faster than inflation: Reuters
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The news: The cost of goods made in China sold via e-commerce platform Amazon have been rising faster than overall inflation, according to research by DataWeave for Reuters.
The numbers: An analysis of 1,400 different products found that price increases for those goods accelerated from May, signalling that tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump are starting to reach consumers. The median price of a basket of the surveyed products made in China and sold on Amazon.com to US consumers has increased 2.6% between January and mid-June, outpacing the latest US inflation rate for core goods, which runs only through May.
For the six months through May, core goods CPI - which excludes services - rose by 1%, implying a 2% annualised rate. Both US federal data and DataWeave's study show that goods prices have trended upward in recent months as tariffs begin impacting prices.
DataWeave focused on the 1,407 products sold on Amazon as they clearly list China as the country of origin. Of the 1,407 items tracked in the DataWeave study between January and 17 June, 475 showed price increases, 633 remained unchanged, and 299 saw price declines.
The basket of China-made goods surveyed includes products sold by Amazon as well as its third-party sellers. Third-party sellers account for 62% of all products sold on Amazon.
The context: The research found that the product increasing at the fastest clip include office and school supplies, electronic goods, and home goods including furniture and cookware.
Karthik Bettadapura, co-founder and CEO of DataWeave explained that while seasonal dynamics could play a role, the timing and the rate of the increases suggest that cost shocks are impacting the retail supply chain. “What we're seeing in June is the first broad-based price step-up, as sellers begin adjusting to higher landed costs," Bettadapura said.
Amazon told Reuters it has not seen the average prices of products change up or down appreciably outside of normal patterns.
The source: Reuters
