Food prices in the territory were down in March

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — American Samoa's Basic Food Index decreased by 0.3% in March. This comes just before American Samoa begins to feel the shock of tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump imposed yesterday.

The AS Department of Commerce Statistics & Analysis Division attributed the March price decline to ten specific food items, which have seen price drops: 2 kg Sugar $3.68(-3.7%), Fresh fish $4.96 lb (-2.9%), Bananas $1.38 lb (-2.8%), Bread $3.50 (- 2.2%), Rice 5lb $5.27 (-2.0%), Mayonnaise $4.87(-1.0%), Soft drinks $1.12 (-0.9%), Sausages $2.13lb (-0.9%), Butter $4.79 (-0.6%), and Pork spareribs $1.96 lb (-0.5%).

Despite the overall decrease in the BFI, some food items have experienced price increases since last month: Eggs $4.83 (2.8%), Corned beef $5.52 (1.3%), Fresh milk $2.56 (1.2%), Canned Tuna $2.36 (0.4%), Case Chicken $19.78(0.1%), and Ice cream 2 ltr $9.52 (0.1%).

Additionally, four food items have remained stable in price this month: Taro, Saimin, Turkey tail, and water — despite fluctuations in other prices.

The Basic Food Index is a monthly rapid assessment of basic food items, to monitor the cost and availability of these 20 food products throughout the community. The BFI is not to be confused with the Quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a comprehensive standard measure of inflation and the cost of living in American Samoa.

A major upgrade to the survey coverage was implemented at the beginning of 2022, when 7 additional stores were included in the data collection process, extending coverage from Se'etaga in the West to Amouli in the East. In total, 14 major to mid-size retail stores have been selected for the monitoring of basic food costs.

BACKGROUND

United States President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on American imports shocked governments and investors around the world, swiftly spurring both threats of retaliation and calls for negotiation as industries scrambled and global stocks tumbled.

China accused the U.S. of “bullying” and the European Union promised “robust” countermeasures, with French officials suggesting taxes to hit U.S. tech giants.

Yet the United Kingdom and Japan, among others, expressed hope for a deal with Trump and refrained from talk of retaliation against the world’s biggest economy, fearing that slapping their own tariffs on American goods would only make things worse.

Trump imposed a 34% levy on goods from China on top of an earlier 20% tariff, as well as a 20% tariff on the EU, 24% on Japan and 25% on South Korea.

Trump has described the import taxes, ranging from 10% to 49%, as a way to reverse unfair treatment by American trading partners and draw factories and jobs back home.

Setting off for Florida from the White House on Thursday, he struck an optimistic note. “I think it’s going very well.”

“The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom and the country is going to boom,” Trump said.

China, a key exporter to the U.S. of everything from clothing to kitchenware, has already announced a raft of retaliatory measures expected to raise prices for U.S. consumers.

“There are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. “It’s clear to everyone that more and more countries are opposing the unilateral bullying actions of the U.S.”

Analysts say there’s little to be gained from an all-out trade war, since higher tariffs can restrain growth and raise inflation.

The round of tariffs jolted financial markets, with the U.S. Standard & Poors 500 off 3.7% in afternoon trading.

The STOXX Europe 600 index fell 2.7% and a 2.8% drop in Tokyo’s benchmark led losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than $2 a barrel. Analysts fished for superlatives to convey the disruption to the global trading order as Trump’s announcement overturned decades of efforts to lower tariffs through free trade agreements and negotiations.

“The magnitude of the rollout — both in scale and speed — wasn’t just aggressive; it was a full-throttle macro disruption,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said.

With an average tariff of 25%-30%, the highest since the early 20th century, the U.S. has initiated a “radical policy reordering,”said Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid.

The head of the World Trade Organization warned that U.S. protectionist measures will likely cause global trade volumes to drop by about 1% this year.

“I’m deeply concerned about this decline and the potential for escalation into a tariff war with a cycle of retaliatory measures that lead to further declines in trade,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Iweala-Okonjo.

HIGHER PRICES LOOM

The tariffs are not paid by the foreign countries they target, but by the U.S.-based companies that buy the goods to sell to Americans.

Now companies must decide whether to absorb the new taxes or pass them on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

The makers of Italy’s Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for instance, say the new tariffs mean U.S. consumers will pay more for their crumbly pasta topping.

“Americans continued to choose us even when the price went up” after an earlier round of Trump tariffs in 2019, said Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Parmigian Reggiano Consortium. “Putting tariffs on a product like ours, only increases the price for American consumers, without protecting local producers.”

The Consumer Brands Association, which represents big food companies like Coca-Cola and General Mills as well as consumer product makers like Procter & Gamble, warned that although its businesses make most of their goods in the U.S., they now face tariffs on critical ingredients — like wood pulp for toilet paper or cinnamon — that must be imported because of domestic scarcity.

“We encourage President Trump and his trade advisors to fine-tune their approach and exempt key ingredients and inputs in order to protect manufacturing jobs and prevent unnecessary inflation at the grocery store,” said Tom Madrecki, the association’s vice-president of supply chain resiliency.

ON A PACIFIC ISLAND, INCOMPREHENSION

A eye-popping 29% tariff imposed on Norfolk Island came as a shock to the remote South Pacific outpost’s 2,000 inhabitants, particularly as its governing nation, Australia, was hit with a far lower tariff of 10%.

“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, said Thursday. “We’re scratching our heads here.”

Vladimir Putin’s Russia, meanwhile, was left off Trump’s list.

(Source: Associated Press)