How Could Trump and Harris Presidencies Affect Gas, Grocery and Home Prices?

• High costs are a critical concern for voters in presidential elections.
• Below, Harris and Trump’s proposals to lower costs for Americans are detailed.
• This is the second in a five-part series on the effects of a Trump or Harris presidency on U.S. consumers.

As the pace of inflation slows, Americans continue to struggle with high prices at gas stations, grocery stores and more.

As the presidential election approaches, these high prices have become a major issue for voters. Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have outlined plans that they say will lower costs for Americans through a variety of policies.

In the second part of BI’s five-part series on the final stretch before the election, Business Insider examines how each candidate will affect the cost of jobs.

An economic policy from a democratic perspective book In a statement released by Harris’ campaign, she and Vice President-elect Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said they “know prices are still too high for middle-class families, so their top economic priority will be lowering the cost of daily necessities.”

When reached for comment, the Harris campaign directed Business Insider to clarifications on previously announced policies.

Meanwhile on the other side Trump’s platform The resolution, adopted by the Republican National Committee in July, outlined 20 principles that the former president would prioritize in a second term; one of them: “Ending inflation and making America affordable again.”

“Trump will once again cut taxes when we send him back to the White House and free up American energy to lower the prices of food and other goods,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Taylor Rogers told BI.

Here’s how a Trump or Harris presidency would affect the cost of things, based on the economic policy proposals the candidates have announced.

groceries

High food prices remain voters’ top concern. According to Pew Research Center questionnaire 74% of respondents to the survey of more than 9,000 adults, conducted from late August to early September, said they were concerned about the high cost of food products.

In August, Harris released a plan to tackle high food costs. Federal ban on puffing groceries during national emergencies.

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Dan Scheitrum, an agribusiness professor at California Polytechnic State University who studies food price inflation. I told BI before Harris’ proposal may not work well outside of crises like a natural disaster or pandemic.

“If you tried to lower grocery prices today, there would be no such thing as a state of emergency. So most of the price gouging protections would not apply at all,” Scheitrum said.

On the other hand, Trump said in his speech at the town hall in September that he would reduce grocery prices by restricting food imports in order to support domestic producers. “Our farmers are being completely decimated right now. And, you know, one of the reasons is because we’re allowing so many agricultural products into our country,” Trump said.

When asked how he would lower grocery prices at a town hall in Pennsylvania in October, Trump’s wide-ranging response focused largely on immigration and said “we’re going to do a lot of things” to manage high grocery prices.

While details are scarce on Trump’s plan to restrict food imports, it is on par with the former president’s pledge to raise tariffs in a second term. He faced criticism from experts There are those who say this will actually increase inflation.

Housing

High housing costs are another important problem. According to Harris’s economic policy book, it would lower rent and mortgage prices by building 3 million new homes and expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which allows private and nonprofit developers to build affordable rental housing.

“There’s a severe housing shortage right now, which is part of what’s driving up costs,” Harris said at a campaign event in Las Vegas in September.

Harris also plans to give Americans up to $25,000 in down payment assistance to help them finance home purchases, according to her campaign.

Trump’s platform said the former president would address housing affordability by “promoting homeownership through Tax Incentives and support for first-time buyers, and cutting unnecessary Regulations that increase housing costs.” The platform did not specify which regulations Trump would eliminate, but in a speech at the Economic Club of New York in September he said that “regulation costs 30% of the cost of a new home, and we will open up some federal land to large-scale housing.” housing construction.”

Rogers, the RNC spokesman, told BI that Trump would “secure the border, ban mortgages for illegal immigrants that increase housing prices, and eliminate federal regulations that increase housing costs” and reiterated his promise to open federal land for construction.

imported goods

Trump has promised to impose broad-based tariffs ranging from 10-20 percent on all imports, potentially raising prices on most goods from other countries.

Imported goods that may be affected by tariffs cover a wide range of products. According to the Census Bureau, the major categories of U.S. imports that will be affected include pharmaceuticals for automobiles ($320 billion so far this year), drugs for human and veterinary use ($155 billion), food and beverages ($140 billion), furniture ($320 billion) 27 dollars). billion) and household appliances ($25 billion).

And it’s not just popular consumer goods that will cost more. Economists are also concerned about the possible impact of this situation on imported iron and steel products. If these become more expensive, products that use them as ingredients will also become expensive.

While Trump insists that other countries will pay the tariffs, most economists agree that the price increases will be largely affected by American businesses and households. For example, a analysis A study from the Tax Policy Center found that all income groups would pay higher taxes as a result of Trump’s tariffs, with the lowest-income households paying about $320 more in taxes and middle-income households paying $1,350 more.

Harris did not offer many details about the tariff plans. But Biden has imposed increased tariffs on products like steel, aluminum and semiconductors, and Harris will likely continue those actions if she wins the election.

Trump and GOP vice presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio pointed out It was stated that the Biden administration continued the Trump-era tariffs on Chinese goods, and Biden even increased the tariffs on approximately $15 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Gas

Few prices are as closely followed in politics as the cost of refueling at the gas station. Gasoline prices have risen at times during the Biden-Harris administration, including in the summer of 2022 when the national average rose above $5 per gallon. before falling back to around $3 per gallon.

Energy prices are also known to be misleading because presidents do not have the power to control complex global and regional markets. Even the White House’s seizure of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is more of a symbolic gesture.

Trump has I promised to “baby drill” by promising to boost the fossil fuel industry by reducing regulations and issuing more leases for drilling on federal lands.

It’s unclear how eager oil producers are to increase production. The Biden-Harris administration also chaired a meeting. record high For US oil production.

Harris vowed to go even further, to call for more permissive reform. He also supports more federal subsidies for renewable energy.

prescription drugs

As a candidate in 2016, Trump repeatedly promised to give the federal government the authority to negotiate prescription drug prices, but as president he has not implemented that measure.

At the White House, Trump initially cut ties with pharmaceuticals By proposing to tie Medicare drug prices to international standards, he challenged the industry, but has since retreated from assertive cost control policy. GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance talked about drug pricing transparency.

Harris has promised to expand two provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that would allow Medicare to negotiate some drug prices. He wants to expand the law’s $2,000 cap on drug spending and the $35 monthly cap on insulin to all Americans.