Schools and parents are waiting with concern for the impact of President Trump’s tariff war, fearing the worst of the surge in food and school supplies costs.
The situation is in flux, with the president putting a 90-day suspension on mutual tariffs in most countries, but for now he has maintained a flat rate of 10% for most foreign products. On imports from China, the trade war has already escalated to 145% tariffs.
An unpredictable war is putting school officials and parents in a tough place as markets fluctuate and economic uncertainty looms.
“It definitely affects school districts and states in many ways,” says former educator and administrator Carl Rectanus, who points to everything from the cost of food for students to upgrade technology that most schools purchased five years ago during the pandemic.
Trump, who has long argued that the global market would treat the United States “very unfair,” began the process of setting tariffs a few hours after taking office in January, signing an executive order to set 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.
Over the coming weeks, he announced and suspended many other tariffs, including America’s closest trading partner. The market has not responded kindly, but the White House claims that tariffs are bringing unwilling countries to the negotiation table.
The struggle for schools is whether you jump and buy now if you believe that the economic situation will worsen or you will wait in the hopes that it will improve.
“For example, consider a technology budget. You know, [schools] Is it refreshing? Should I buy it immediately? Do I need to wait? What is customs duty? Will it be 145% or will it be suspended? It’s impossible to tell. So there’s not a lot of confusion and clarity about what they should do,” Rectanus said.
“90% of the district’s budget will go towards capital expenditures, namely school transport and educator salaries, while the other 10% are where you have to pay for the curriculum and everything else.
The market has fallen again this past week after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell predicted that growth slowed throughout the year and prices rose due to tariff policies. Powell’s predictions made Trump angry. Trump threatened to fire him.
The fight is causing concern not only for schools but also for businesses that normally buy.
“For example, companies that are either sellers or retailers of products imported from China have caused uncertainty over the past few months, as prices and changes in tariffs have led to uncertainty about what the actual final costs of the school are.”
“So it’s hard to get a solid price when they bring products from overseas,” she added. Not only for technology, but also for “paper, pencils, and crayons.”
And economic uncertainty is just one of several types that schools face as Trump seeks to implement a wide range of educational reforms, including the end of closing the federal education sector.
It is also unclear how long the high prices will last, which could affect schooling and back-to-school shopping in the fall summer.
“I don’t know if crayon boxes will be more expensive in August and September when my parents buy them,” Croke said. “I think there will be some students going to school in the summer. […] So, if schools and parents need to buy supplies and prices rise, or if they need to buy one that will directly affect today’s tariffs, it will probably be more expensive. ”
