A Trade War Comes To Town
Top Story: A trade war comes to town
For months, retailers stockpiled inventory to avoid the arriving Trump tariffs.
But now supplies are dwindling. Stores are restocking, and the cost of goods is on the rise.
That uptick is likely to be felt across all our beats.
How do we humanize — and localize — a national economic story? Reporting Right has some ideas.
TARIFF STORY IDEAS
A choice they didn’t want
Many small-town retailers are facing the same dilemma: absorb the higher costs themselves, and see thinner margins — or raise prices, and risk alienating loyal customers who have made an effort to shop locally. Tell the story of two different retailers who made different choices and how their choices are impacting, their businesses, families, and the communities they live in.
When local government hits pause
As tariffs push up costs, some communities are quietly delaying projects—from road repairs to school upgrades to emergency equipment purchases. Report on what’s being postponed, how officials are making these sometime agonizing decisions, and how those decisions may or may not impact community safety, open spaces, etc.
Connecting the dots
As prices rise across the country, many Americans are feeling the impact. But are they fully understanding the cause? This story would examine whether trade policy and tariffs register in everyday conversations, and how misinformation may (or may not) be filling the gap. Through interviews with shoppers, business owners, and community leaders, explore how economic policy made in D.C. is understood (or misunderstood) at the local level.
When “feels-like-home” gets more expensive
For many immigrant communities, tariffs are showing up at the neighborhood grocery store, where specialty foods can be found. Products like soy sauce, noodles, spices, and other items imported from home countries are rising in price or disappearing from shelves altogether. Tell a story about how trade policy is impacting access to cultural staples, forcing families to substitute, stockpile, or pay more for items that carry deep personal and cultural meaning.
Contracting Contracts
As tariffs push up costs, companies are scaling back on contract labor and overtime. This story examines how tariffs are affecting hourly and gig workers who rely on flexible work to make ends meet—at a time when the cost-of-living is also on the rise.
Resources
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We’re Reading
A Splendid Exchange: How trade shaped the world
by William J. Bernstein
Comic Relief
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Maurice Cunningham, retired associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of Dark Money and The Politics of School Privatization.
Isaac Kamola, associate professor of political science at Trinity College, founder of Faculty First Responders and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University and author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
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