The escalation of US-Iran tensions and the subsequent imposition of tariffs by President Trump have led to a surge in prices across various commodities. Fueled by the war and tariff increases, inflation in April reached a three-year high, affecting consumer prices.
'Costs Are Out of Control': Trump 's Iran War Pushes US Inflation to Highest Level in Three Years Shoppers wait in line at a grocery store in Washington, DC ahead of a winter storm expected to hit the region over the weekend, on Friday, January 23, 2026.
Trump's War and Tariffs Are Driving Up Prices Inflation rose in April as the war on Iran has increased energy prices and import-dependent businesses continue to pass tariff costs on to customers. , a general rise in prices, increased in April due to higher costs for energy primarily, at 40%; food; and shelter.
"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after rising 0.9% in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEnergy prices are up in no small way due to the unprovoked US-Israel war against Iran begun on February 28, 2026. That violation ofhas caused 3,468 deaths and over 26,500 injuries in Iran, according to Iranian authorities, and closed the Strait of Hormuz.
An estimated 20% of the world's petroleum passes through this route, which was open for business before the war began. Moreover, that closure is evidence of a US defeat, writes Robert Kagan, a leading neoconservative andThere's another factor driving inflation, according to Dan Anthony, head of We Pay The Tariffs, a grassroots coalition of nearly 1,200 small US businesses that advocates against tariffs.
“Tariffs raise prices," he said in a statement. Basically, the tariffs are part of aimposed tariffs, or taxes on imports from US global trading partners, on March 4, 2025. The tariff rates have increased and decreased since then. To say the impacts of the Trump tariffs on aluminum, steel, and other commodities from abroad has been chaotic understates the case.
Bank of Dallas agrees with Anthony's assessment of tariffs and inflation. The Fed researchers found that import-dependent businesses passing along the cost of tariffs on imports have added a full percentage point to the inflation of consumer prices. What can be done?
“There aren’t many levers the government can pull to lower prices," according to Anthony,"but permanently eliminating tariffs is one of them. " That is accurate and also unlikely at least in the short term. Further, a brief look back reveals another presidential lever available, and a precedent for it, one that coincides with a past, imposed wage and price controls for 90 days.
That lever froze wages and prices to fight inflation, an outcome of US deficit spending to wage war inIn the meantime and on a related note, President Donald J. Trump might have delayed the signing of executive orders to temporarily reduce tariffs on beef imports, and back policies to increase the domestic cattle herd. The two policy aims of these proposed executive orders seem contradictory. Are they at odds with each other? What’s really going on here?
Sarah Carden is the research and policy director at Food Action.
“The administration appears to be presenting this move as a way to lower beef prices for consumers while supporting domestic cattle ranchers," she said in a statement,"but we’ve already seen this approach fail. Previous import expansions from Argentina did not meaningfully reduce beef prices because the real problem is a highly consolidated meat-packing sector controlled by just a handful of dominant corporations.
"Such consolidation can and does spur higher prices. Fewer producers in the marketplace mean that they can and do avoid price competition. Why should monopoly companies with consolidated market power reduce prices if competitors do not offer lower-priced products to consumers? Why cut prices except to counter competitors' threats to grab market share and profits?
In a for-profit economic system, such a move to decrease prices absent competitive pressures to do so makes no business sense. Meanwhile at the end of the day, domestic cattle producers, some of whom make up the base of MAGA, are feeling the pain, along with US consumers and import-dependent businesses generally, coping with the impacts of inflation, tariffs, and war. It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser.
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When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. , a general rise in prices, increased in April due to higher costs for energy primarily, at 40%; food; and shelter.
"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after rising 0.9% in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEnergy prices are up in no small way due to the unprovoked US-Israel war against Iran begun on February 28, 2026. That violation ofhas caused 3,468 deaths and over 26,500 injuries in Iran, according to Iranian authorities, and closed the Strait of Hormuz.
An estimated 20% of the world's petroleum passes through this route, which was open for business before the war began. Moreover, that closure is evidence of a US defeat, writes Robert Kagan, a leading neoconservative andThere's another factor driving inflation, according to Dan Anthony, head of We Pay The Tariffs, a grassroots coalition of nearly 1,200 small US businesses that advocates against tariffs.
“Tariffs raise prices," he said in a statement. Basically, the tariffs are part of aimposed tariffs, or taxes on imports from US global trading partners, on March 4, 2025. The tariff rates have increased and decreased since then. To say the impacts of the Trump tariffs on aluminum, steel, and other commodities from abroad has been chaotic understates the case.
Bank of Dallas agrees with Anthony's assessment of tariffs and inflation. The Fed researchers found that import-dependent businesses passing along the cost of tariffs on imports have added a full percentage point to the inflation of consumer prices. What can be done?
“There aren’t many levers the government can pull to lower prices," according to Anthony,"but permanently eliminating tariffs is one of them. " That is accurate and also unlikely at least in the short term. Further, a brief look back reveals another presidential lever available, and a precedent for it, one that coincides with a past, imposed wage and price controls for 90 days.
That lever froze wages and prices to fight inflation, an outcome of US deficit spending to wage war inIn the meantime and on a related note, President Donald J. Trump might have delayed the signing of executive orders to temporarily reduce tariffs on beef imports, and back policies to increase the domestic cattle herd. The two policy aims of these proposed executive orders seem contradictory. Are they at odds with each other? What’s really going on here?
Sarah Carden is the research and policy director at Food Action.
“The administration appears to be presenting this move as a way to lower beef prices for consumers while supporting domestic cattle ranchers," she said in a statement,"but we’ve already seen this approach fail. Previous import expansions from Argentina did not meaningfully reduce beef prices because the real problem is a highly consolidated meat-packing sector controlled by just a handful of dominant corporations.
"Such consolidation can and does spur higher prices. Fewer producers in the marketplace mean that they can and do avoid price competition. Why should monopoly companies with consolidated market power reduce prices if competitors do not offer lower-priced products to consumers? Why cut prices except to counter competitors' threats to grab market share and profits?
In a for-profit economic system, such a move to decrease prices absent competitive pressures to do so makes no business sense. Meanwhile at the end of the day, domestic cattle producers, some of whom make up the base of MAGA, are feeling the pain, along with US consumers and import-dependent businesses generally, coping with the impacts of inflation, tariffs, and war. Fewer Jobs, Higher Inflation, and $300 Billion in Lost Output: Analysis Details Woeful Trump Economy ›'It's Very MAGA!
' Inflation Ticks Up as Trump Tariffs Push Consumer Prices Higher ›Inflation , a general rise in prices, increased in April due to higher costs for energy primarily, at 40%; food; and shelter. "The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after rising 0.9% in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEnergy prices are up in no small way due to the unprovoked US-Israel war against Iran begun on February 28, 2026.
That violation ofhas caused 3,468 deaths and over 26,500 injuries in Iran, according to Iranian authorities, and closed the Strait of Hormuz. An estimated 20% of the world's petroleum passes through this route, which was open for business before the war began.
Moreover, that closure is evidence of a US defeat, writes Robert Kagan, a leading neoconservative andThere's another factor driving inflation, according to Dan Anthony, head of We Pay The Tariffs, a grassroots coalition of nearly 1,200 small US businesses that advocates against tariffs.
“Tariffs raise prices," he said in a statement. Basically, the tariffs are part of aimposed tariffs, or taxes on imports from US global trading partners, on March 4, 2025. The tariff rates have increased and decreased since then. To say the impacts of the Trump tariffs on aluminum, steel, and other commodities from abroad has been chaotic understates the case.
Bank of Dallas agrees with Anthony's assessment of tariffs and inflation. The Fed researchers found that import-dependent businesses passing along the cost of tariffs on imports have added a full percentage point to the inflation of consumer prices. What can be done?
“There aren’t many levers the government can pull to lower prices," according to Anthony,"but permanently eliminating tariffs is one of them. " That is accurate and also unlikely at least in the short term. Further, a brief look back reveals another presidential lever available, and a precedent for it, one that coincides with a past, imposed wage and price controls for 90 days.
That lever froze wages and prices to fight inflation, an outcome of US deficit spending to wage war inIn the meantime and on a related note, President Donald J. Trump might have delayed the signing of executive orders to temporarily reduce tariffs on beef imports, and back policies to increase the domestic cattle herd. The two policy aims of these proposed executive orders seem contradictory. Are they at odds with each other? What’s really going on here?
Sarah Carden is the research and policy director at Food Action.
“The administration appears to be presenting this move as a way to lower beef prices for consumers while supporting domestic cattle ranchers," she said in a statement,"but we’ve already seen this approach fail. Previous import expansions from Argentina did not meaningfully reduce beef prices because the real problem is a highly consolidated meat-packing sector controlled by just a handful of dominant corporations.
"Such consolidation can and does spur higher prices. Fewer producers in the marketplace mean that they can and do avoid price competition. Why should monopoly companies with consolidated market power reduce prices if competitors do not offer lower-priced products to consumers? Why cut prices except to counter competitors' threats to grab market share and profits?
In a for-profit economic system, such a move to decrease prices absent competitive pressures to do so makes no business sense. Meanwhile at the end of the day, domestic cattle producers, some of whom make up the base of MAGA, are feeling the pain, along with US consumers and import-dependent businesses generally, coping with the impacts of inflation, tariffs, and war. Fewer Jobs, Higher Inflation, and $300 Billion in Lost Output: Analysis Details Woeful Trump Economy ›'It's Very MAGA!
' Inflation Ticks Up as Trump Tariffs Push Consumer Prices Higher ›The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%.
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Inflation Trump Iran War Tariffs Consolidated Meat-Packing Sector Domestic Cattle Producers Consolidation Market Power
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