Fox Business Analyst Blames Spike in Prices on Trump’s Tariffs: ‘Not What Anyone Wanted to See’
Financial analyst Adam Johnson blamed President Donald Trump’s tariffs for a higher-than-expected bump in wholesale inflation.
Johnson joined Fox Business’ Ashley Webster following news that the producer price index jumped 0.9% in July, a bigger increase than was forecasted by many. It was also the biggest jump since 2022.
“Wholesale inflation, so much higher than expected, Adam. What is this?” Webster asked Johnson, the author of the Bullseye Brief and portfolio manager of the Bullseye American Ingenuity Fund.
“Not what we wanted to see, not what anyone wanted to, but I think this is tariffs. And we’re finally seeing tariffs percolate through the data,” Johnson explained. “What’s curious in particular is that the trade component, the line item where it just says trade, and that’s about one-fifth of the CPI calculation, up 2%. So lest there be any doubts about where this is coming from, there it is.”
Johnson did predict it is a “one-time shift” due to the administration’s tariffs that will cool off in future reports.
“Now, I will note that the year over year comparisons will remain elevated for, in theory, a year, right? Because it’s gonna take a year before we get past that. But eventually it rolls off,” the analyst said.
Webster added, however, that this could be a “precursor” to higher consumer prices, not just an increase in wholesale prices.
“It probably is, yeah,” Johnson said, adding that interest rates being cut — something Trump has pushed for — could stop an increase in prices hitting consumers.
He further argued that bonds have remained steady, backing the argument that these increases are temporary.
“The bond market has barely budged, as you mentioned. Essentially flat. And that’s where the pros go,” Johnson said. “So that’s all the institutional traders saying, wait a minute, this is a one-time bump up because of tariffs. It doesn’t really change bond yields. It’s a one-time event. Stocks react, bonds don’t. That gives me comfort as an investor, the fact that bonds are not moving.”
Watch above via Fox Business.
