Inflation ticked up to its highest level in months in June amid concerns about President Donald Trump’s threats surrounding tariffs and his larger global trade war.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index summary on Tuesday, which tracks how much inflation increased in the past month. The survey showed that the CPI increased 0.3 percent in June after it went up by only 0.1 percent in May. In the past 12 months, the index for all items jumped the by 2.7 percent.
The move comes as Trump continues to ramp up his tariff threats. Last week, Trump fired off a series of letters announcing his tariffs. He also announced a 30 percent tariff on Mexico and the European Union and an aggressive 50 percent against Brazil.
Trump’s tariff announcement came despite the fact that United States has a trade surplus with Brazil, though the president said he levied them because of the trial against former president Jair Bolsonaro, who faces charges related to an attempted coup in 2022.
Last week, the president was set to resume tariffs that he had paused in April after he rocked global markets on “Liberation Day” by placing blanket tariffs. The president failed to reach the “90 deals in 90 days” that his trade adviser Peter Navarro had pledged he would achieve during the pause.
The index for shelter drove most of the price increase in June, jumping 0.2 percent after it increased by only 0.1 percent in May. The index for rent increased 0.2 percent in June and the indext for homeowners’ equivalent of rent rose by 0.3 percent.
