The holiday shopping season is approaching, and a new analysis reveals that tariffs could significantly impact family budgets this year.
A study from LendingTree shows that if current tariffs had been in place during last year's holiday season, American families would have faced an additional $132 burden on their gift purchases. The research calculated the potential impact of existing tariffs on 2024 winter holiday shopping patterns.
The analysis found that consumers and retailers combined would have shouldered a $40.6 billion burden on gift purchases under current tariff structures.
Electronics would hit shoppers the hardest, adding an average per-shopper burden of $186. Clothing and accessories would contribute another $82 to the typical family's holiday expenses.
These two categories alone would account for more than 60% of the holiday tariff burden, according to the study.
The research revealed that Americans spent nearly $378 billion on imported goods during holiday shopping last year. Clothing and accessories represented a particularly import-heavy category, with 88% of items imported, totaling more than $117 billion in holiday spending.
"Anything that makes holiday shopping more expensive creates real challenges for consumers," said Matt Schulz, LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst.
"That means that even more Americans would have had to fall back on credit cards and personal loans to help cover gift-buying expenses," Schulz said. "That's the unfortunate reality that many people would have faced if current tariffs were in place during last year's winter holidays."
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