Since President Donald Trump announced on the 2nd that he would impose widespread tariffs on all imported goods, both the Korean American community and Americans at large have begun stockpiling.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Americans are rushing to fill their carts with everything from TVs and soy sauce to athletic wear, reflecting the recent frenzy.
Korean Americans, hearing that prices of Korean-made products will rise, have also started hoarding Korean food items at Korean markets and purchasing their preferred Korean products.
In fact, Korean market employees noted that more Korean customers visited over the past weekend than usual.
On the 4th, a housewife surnamed Jang who visited a Korean market said, “With news that tariffs on Korean products will skyrocket starting the 9th, I bought a lot of frozen foods like dumplings, instant rice, kimchi, and soy sauce—things my family loves.” She added, “If I had more financial leeway, I would’ve bought even more.”
A Korean couple surnamed Park hurriedly purchased a Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphone on the 5th. Mr. Park explained, “We originally planned to replace our phones later this year, but even though smartphones are expensive now, we decided to upgrade before tariffs push prices up by hundreds of dollars.”
The WSJ reported that at supermarkets and electronics stores, many consumers are loading up carts to avoid price hikes. Wall Street predicts that U.S. credit card usage could surge to record levels in April due to this hoarding trend. Shoppers are particularly eager to buy big-ticket items like TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines, leading to crowds at chains like Best Buy and Costco.
Noel Pegero, a 50-year-old school employee, told the WSJ that after hearing about the tariffs, he spent over $3,000 on electronics, car parts, gardening tools, and other household goods on the 2nd and 3rd.
While loading a TV into his minivan at a Best Buy in Queens, New York City, he said, “Now’s the time to buy.” He had visited two other stores in the New York area looking for his desired TV model, but they were sold out. After calling the Queens location and learning they had just one left, he pleaded, “Please hold it for me,” and managed to secure it—highlighting the current hoarding frenzy.
According to the WSJ, billionaire entrepreneur and TV personality Mark Cuban posted on the social media platform Bluesky on the 2nd, urging his followers to stockpile.
“From toothpaste to soap, buy anything you have space to store,” he wrote, explaining that once stores run out of current inventory and reorder imported goods, price hikes are inevitable. He added, “Stores will jack up prices even on American-made products and blame it on tariffs.”
The WSJ noted that unlike the unpredictable inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic, tariff-driven price increases are foreseeable. Economists predict that consumer prices for a wide range of goods— including agricultural products, clothing, electronics, and cars—are likely to rise.
A University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey in March also showed that Americans anticipate tariff-induced inflation. This marks a significant shift from February, when month-over-month inflation had slowed.
Peter Atwater, an adjunct economics lecturer at William & Mary, explained that Trump’s press conference on the 2nd served as a wake-up call for many who had previously paid little attention to tariff news.
The 10% baseline tariff on all global imports, announced by President Trump, took effect on the 5th. Starting on the 9th, a second phase of country-specific reciprocal tariffs (10% plus additional rates) will kick in. As a result, the U.S. tariff rate on Korean products will rise from 10% to 25% as of 12:01 a.m. on the 9th. Tariffs on goods from Vietnam, where many Korean products are manufactured, will also increase simultaneously.