In Oc Trump Country, you worry what prices will cost them

In Huntington Beach – where a small white bust of President Trump occupies the municipal council chambers and the banners “Make America Great Again” steal proudly outside the houses and on board the boats that swing in the port – support for the White House is a question of civic pride.

But even in this conservative tranche of Orange County, the concerns about higher prices and uncertainty surrounding the country’s economic future were palpable while the Trump administration deployed its global tariff plan in what the president called on “Liberation Day”.

On Wednesday, in Costco in Huntington Beach, Danielle Calfo said that she and her husband were trying to plan as much as possible in advance – with two boys and a third son now.

The 33 -year -old housewife said that she and her husband had made all the repairs necessary for their cars at the beginning of the year, fearing that the prices of the parts shipped abroad soar. They bought new furniture for their Huntington Beach house and buy in bulk as much as possible to maintain low costs.

“We bought a bouquet just when he was elected because we knew that everything was going to go up,” she said, driving her 2-year-old son to buy a slice of pizza.

His cart was stacked with household items, snacks for his sons, fruit and two containers of two dozen eggs – a flight these days to less than $ 10 each.

The radical prices are designed, said the president, to create more jobs in the United States. But there are increasing concerns that could beat the economy, increase prices on a multitude of goods and leave consumers suffering from another cycle of inflation.

It could end up being a key test to find out if Trump’s faithful who brought him back to power are prepared for more economical uncertainty.

Outside the Walmart on Talbert Avenue, a resident of Huntington Beach who only identified as Mary said that she supported prices even if it means a price increase.

“It will probably hurt at first, but I think our country is in great difficulty,” she said by loading bags of earth for her garden in her car.

“You are not losing weight without a little effort. You do not get out of a financial hole without a little sacrifice,” said Trump’s long -standing supporter. “Personally, I think it’s a good thing because I think we have to be encouraged to buy from the United States and support American industry.”

Meanwhile, inside the Walmart, buyers were mainly concentrated on the food aisles.

Although the company’s website indicates that two thirds of the goods sold in its American stores are manufactured, cultivated or assembled at the national level, the customers interviewed by the Times said that they expected that their money does not come as far in the store as in the past.

Dennis McKeown, 76, an independent, did not plan a big day of shopping on Wednesday before Trump’s pricing announcement. Instead, he was there to visit the optometrist.

He said he considered prices as a short -term sacrifice for long -term gain.

“Prices will increase a little for a short period, but in the long term, I think it will be better overall for everyone,” said McKeown. “Other countries have billed American prices, so this is a way we can somehow level things. We can sell more American manufacturing products to other countries, which is good for business here. ”

The plan announced Wednesday would place a reference rate of 10% on all American trade partners and “reciprocal prices” on dozens of countries, including China, European Union, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan. A price of 25% will come into force on Thursday on all vehicles and automotive parts imported in the United States.

The rates increase American taxes on foreign imports at the levels that we have not seen since the Second World War.

Although the Trump administration insists that the prospects will bring prosperity to the nation, its criticisms say that it was wrong.

“The president’s invoice as a liberation day, but it will really be the day of inflation,” said Michael Negron, a member of the collaborative Groundwork, a non -profit reflection group and a progressive advocacy group and a former special assistant from President Biden for economic policy. “It will be a day when they announce the tax increases actually that end up going to consumers.”

Trump has pleaded for the prices since he went to the campaign track, where he proclaimed that foreign countries have long been “uprooted” America. While the exact nature of the prices has not been clearly indicated so far, the imminent threat has been welcomed with wild stock oscillations and consumer confidence across the country.

A survey by the University of Michigan revealed that consumers’ feeling – a key economic indicator – dropped by 12% in March, the third consecutive month of reduced trust in the economy.

About 44% of consumers questioned mentioned prices spontaneously, compared to 40% in February. And it was not only the Democrats who referred to the prices. According to the survey, around 40% of the self -employed mentioned the cost increase.

A survey by the Associated Press-Noc Center for Public Affairs Research shows that around half of adults in the United States approve of Trump’s immigration policy, but only 4 out of 10 have a positive vision of his approach to the economy and trade.

This same survey published on March 31 has found generalized republican support in Trump on trade – at least for the moment. Asked about commercial negotiations, 72% of Republicans expressed their approval while 27% expressed their disapproval. The survey has shown that Democrats were massively against Trump’s trade policies, 89% expressing disapproval.

This fracture was clear when the Times interviewed people through Huntington Beach on Wednesday when Trump made his announcement. Trump supporters usually want to give prices a chance even if it could mean short -term pain for the economy. But people who did not vote for him were more concerned with the effects on their portfolios and long -term economic prospects.

Jeanne Husing, 84, said that she had a room for maneuver in her budget with an external income in addition to her social security payments, but she is worried about families who do not have as much flexibility.

The cost increase will affect them the most, she said, loading her SUV with grocery store on Wednesday morning.

“I am worried,” said Husing, a democrat about prices. “Everything Trump touches that he is good. I don’t know why he thinks these prices are such a good idea, but who knows how his brain works? I’m sure he does not do so.”

Consumers will probably start to see higher prices on imported products ranging from alcohol to electronics in stores in a few weeks, said Negron. And we don’t know how long these prices will last.

Trump sometimes mentioned certain political results, namely to repel drug trafficking when he was asked what he hoped to achieve from prices on places like Mexico and Canada. But he also suggested that prices were part of an effort to bring manufacturing to the United States, a process that would take years.

“He very recently talked about his multi-year inheritance, and because he talks about prices since the 1980s, I think that more and more people are taking care more and more that they could be in place in the rest of his administration,” said Negron. “If this is the case, you are talking about high inflation for a while.”

On Wednesday at noon, the Huntington Beach Costco was criticized with buyers loaded on bulk items and the purchase of gas for $ 4.29 per gallon – a saving of ten hundred by Gallon compared to stations of brand name nearby.

The cars surrounded the congestioned parking lot in search of a free space like Faith, a resident of Huntington Beach, 59, who refused to give her family name, loaded large bags of chips and a bunch of bananas in the trunk of her SUV. She said it was skeptical that the prices would have been there for a long time.

It considers the whole exercise as a political stratagem for frightening consumers to quickly make purchases of large trucks in order to relaunch a fled economy. Faith, a democrat, does not buy it.

“All of this is false,” she said. “In a few months, it will be like:” Oh, I’m going to ride everything. ” Isn’t that great? There is therefore no reason to react.