There are still five days before Halloween in 2025. Americans should be busy dressing up and shopping for candy, but this year everyone's heart is a bit heavy.
Not because the "demon monster" is not scary enough, but the Trump administration's tariff policy, so that the cost of passing up the road, the wallet first felt the "fear".
California entrepreneur Zeffro is afraid to be the most sensitive, his warehouse has a variety of Halloween items, lactose masks, film surroundings, dead bodies and dolls.
These items should have been profitable, but in recent months, his company has been experiencing a real “cash flow”.
In April 2025, the Trump administration imposed additional tariffs on China goods, and Zefro's corporate import costs soared instantly.
No one would have imagined that the tariffs would cause such a huge shock, with an additional cost of more than $800,000 making the hard-working company that has been running for 15 years difficult and ultimately burdensome.
Unfortunately, he was only able to cut 15 people, the first time since the company was founded.
"That was one of the worst days of my life," Zefro's words were full of helplessness. These employees who were laid off were all his friends, and he hoped to invite everyone back one day.
Tariffs hit the industrial chain, and small businesses couldn't bear it anymore
Zefro's experience is not an exception. Almost all Halloween related companies across the United States are overwhelmed by tariffs.
Goldman, the manager of the clothing chain store, has been doing this for decades. They have survived the economic recession and the COVID-19 epidemic, but this year has been particularly difficult.
The mechanical clown items in his store, which were not sold last year, rose directly from less than $400 this year to $600.
Such a large increase, the merchants do not want to see, the customs costs can be placed there, can only be distributed to the selling price.
Goldman revealed that they tried not to raise the price of children’s clothes, and that they could raise the price of adult clothes by $5 to $10.
Even more headache is that a lot of large specialty items, this year can only directly give up sales.
The Halloween and Clothing Association has long issued a warning that small manufacturers are unable to transfer costs or move production back to the United States. In such a difficult situation, orders can only be shelved, which is regrettable.
I wanted to rely on Halloween for a wave of performance, but as a result, because of the tariff shrinkage, this business was really dull.
Enterprises are having a hard time here, and consumers' feelings are even more direct.
According to data from the U.S. Retail Federation, total Halloween spending this year reached $13.1 billion, which is $11 more per capita than last year.
Don't underestimate the $11. Divide it among clothing, candy, and decorations. Each item makes people feel "painful".
High price Halloween comes to attack, ordinary people want to go through the festival
Hernandez of California chose a Halloween hat for her six-year-old son, looking at one that costs $ 30, she can't afford, only to buy clothes.
So it seems that not everyone wants to have a good holiday, it is not really able to spend more money.
There are many families simply give up buying clothes, this year's Halloween, can only easily deal with.
In addition to clothing, the price of candy has also gone up. A box of 48 chocolate bars, which used to cost $40, now costs more than $50.
Some say it is caused by the reduction of cacao production in West Africa, and the increased cost of imports caused by tariffs can not get rid of the interference.
Even more interestingly, even European wines and Scotch whiskies, these festival drinks, have become more expensive because of tariffs.
Originally, I wanted to drink some good wine to help the fun during the holidays, but as a result, when the price rose, many people had to give up.
In the face of these questions, the White House’s response was somewhat “stand and talk without pain.”
Spokesperson Kush De said that true prosperity does not rely on cheap China imports, but lies in creating high-quality jobs for the American people and promoting a good momentum for the community to flourish.
This sounds reasonable, but the reality is that ordinary people spend more during the holidays, and small businesses need to lay off workers and shrink production. Where is the so-called "prosperity" reflected?
Zeffro said frankly that the real tariffs are paid by importers, this is the common sense of basic economics, and in a few words, this key point is made clear, highlighting its deep understanding of economic principles.
He also called for policy incentives if manufacturing really wants to flow back, rather than punishing companies that rely on overseas factories.
Obviously, the manufacturing industry is not as easy as the crying slogan, the state of the U.S. infrastructure, regulatory requirements and raw material supply are all constraints to enterprises to carry out production activities in the country.
Trump's tariff policy may be intended to protect local industries, but it can be seen from the small incision on Halloween that the ultimate cost still falls on the American people and companies.
The result of companies bleeding and consumers paying the bill is probably contrary to the original intention of the policy.
Trade policy formulation should really consider the actual impact more,The holiday economy seems to be a trivial matter, but it can reflect big problems.
It is easy to wield the big stick of tariffs, but the chain reaction it brings will ultimately have to be borne by our own people.
On Halloween in the United States this year, tariff policy ushered in a "test". Halloween is like a "touchstone" that clearly reflects the effectiveness of the policy. However, the results of this test are really disappointing.
Whether the future will change, maybe only time will reveal the answer, but now Americans have to pay for this “high-cost Halloween” and are facing the heavy burden of holiday spending under real economic pressure.