By Terry Tang and Karena Phan, Associated Press
LOS Angeles (AP) – Faithful customers of Asian supermarkets and other grocery stores specializing in the sale of imported food has pushed a collective sigh of dismay when President Donald Trump announced extra -high American prices on dozens of countries.
What would happen to the prices at 99 Ranch Market and H Mart ?, The Americans and Asian immigrants who buy the two American channels for favorite brands like Kewpie mayonnaise in Japan and the light soy sauce of the Pearl river in China.
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The director general Sungrae Kim du H Mart organizes electric rice cuisers imported from Korea in Niles, ill., Thursday April 3, 2025. (AP photo / Nam Y. Huh)
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The director general Sungrae Kim du H Mart organizes electric rice cuisers imported from Korea in Niles, ill., Thursday April 3, 2025. (AP photo / Nam Y. Huh)
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“We are all going to cry in H Mart,” said a Tiktok user, referring to the title of a successful memory of the American Korean musician Michelle Zauner as other posters shared videos of their “pre-tariff traits” of Asian supermarkets.
The higher rate rates that Trump set for imports from nations he has accused of unfair commercial practices took effect on Wednesday first, as well as a 10% reference tax on the rest of the world.
Several countries in Asia have some of the largest samples, including South Korea (25%), Vietnam (47%) and Cambodia (49%). After China has approved counter-tale and said it would fight an American trade war “until the end”, the president increased the rate on Chinese products to 104%on Tuesday.
In a market of 99 ranch less than one mile from the UCLA campus, one of the 58 stores in the chain based in California, regular buyers Artis Chitchamnueng have said that he could not go anywhere else to find the food he likes if prices soar.
“I think that (Trump) like playing a lot of similar mind games trying to try to take control of the market and stuff like that,” said Chitchamnueng, a part -time worker and entrepreneur. Many customers have declared on social networks that they did not know if they could continue to do their routine shopping at 99 Ranch Market.
Even if traditional grocers store some of the same items, many imported items are cheaper in specialized supermarkets. A bottle of 18 ounces of oyster sauce Lee Kum Kee Panda, for example, sells $ 3.99 at 99 Ranch. Safeway and Walmart websites list the same bottle for $ 4.79 and $ 10.45, respectively.
Stores storing a wide range of noodles, dried vegetables, herbs and skin care products from China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam can be a source of comfort for immigrants and foreign students who want tastes of the house.
Tony He, an international student at the UCLA, said that Trump’s pricing policies had confused it, but he would continue to shop at 99 Ranch to do his shopping if prices increased. “As long as I need Asian food, I generally come here,” he said.
Purchases for food, drinks and culturally specific condiments in the United States have traveled a long way of offers formerly put in the “ethnic food” alleys of American supermarkets. International supermarkets and small grocery stores across the country generated $ 55.8 billion in revenues last year, according to market research company Ibisworld.
The sector has recorded an annual growth rate of approximately 3% since 2019, and an Ibisworld forecast predicted that grocery revenues with international brands would increase to more than $ 64 billion by 2029.
Analysts attribute the increase in demand to the growth of populations of Asian and Hispanic immigrants, as well as to the tastes of young consumers who like to live new flavors. Mass market stores and market brands have more and more stored or created Americanized versions of Asian products to cover the trend.
The specialized rice used for sushi that traditional supermarkets sells are also generally imported from South Korea, China or Japan, noted Nancy Qian, professor of economics at the Kellogg School of Management of the Northwestern University. She thinks that prices can lead consumers to find alternatives for their favorite brands.
“When my parents arrived in America for the first time in the 80s in China, they couldn’t really get the same type of rice as in China, they went to another type of rice,” Qian said. “I think families, restaurants and people will do what it takes to reach both ends. And they will substitute food. They will buy new foods. “
Independent stores that are an integral part of small Asian American communities are also preparing for a blow. The owner not only of spices, a small South Asian grocery store in Providence, Rhode Island, said he was concerned with the rise in costs for daily products such as basmati rice from India and Pakistan, or Kalijira rice grain from his native Bangladesh.
“When things are cheaper, people generally buy more. Now they buy exactly what they need,” said Mohammed Islam, who has managed not only spices since 1998. “People are afraid of spending money because they don’t know what will happen.”
Trump announced a 37% price on Bangladesh goods, 26% on products neighboring India, 29% on Pakistan articles and 44% on imports from the island country of Sri Lanka, known for its cinnamon and other spices.
If he has to increase prices because the price impacts start to hit supplies, Islam trusts that his customers will not blame him.
“People don’t complain because it’s already in the news,” he said. “It’s not like I was the one who increases the price.”
Customers of Hispanic supermarkets can also shop more carefully. Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose a 25% price on most imports from Mexico.
In Phoenix, roommates Andrew Colvin and Mario Aviles generally frequent the Ranch de Los Altos market, where they say most of the products and snacks they buy are Mexico. The sprawling supermarket, which includes a grocery store and a bakery, is one of the 115 stores that the group of Heritage grocers operates in six states.
“We expect everything to increase,” said Colvin, who was approaching coconut water, preserves parrot, his favorite drink, in case the price increases. “I probably eat 14 lawyers per week. There will be much less. ”
Aviles does not want to shop elsewhere. If the prices lead to a serious shock of the stickers, it is ready to restrict itself instead.
“More lawyers, more mangoes, more orange,” said Aviles.
Some experts say that it would not hurt to get their supplies of non-pepins within the individual household limits and budgets. But buyers must avoid “the purchase of panic” which accompanied the start of the COVVI-19 pandemic, which could create shortages and cause additional price increases, said Qian.
Although it is not yet clear to what extent the prices will be transmitted to American consumers, the researchers say that any price increase would affect low -income households disproportionately.
“These are regressive taxes. And for the basic reason that wealthy people do not spend 100% of their revenues and their disadvantaged people, “said Steven Durlauf, director of the Stone Center for Research on Health Inequality and Mobility at the University of Chicago.
The Qian of the University of the North West said that the cumulative economic impacts of the Trump administration prices could contain a possible silver lining if they bring people back to the cultural enclaves in major cities.
“If you think of the ancient Chinese, or the ancients, like the little American Itrices,” she said. “The reason why these places have become really important for their communities is because it was the only place where you can get what you want.”
Tang reported from Phoenix. Video producer Associated Press, Akira Kumamoto, Los Angeles, California, contributed to this report. The writer Associated Press Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
