Trump’s trade brinkmanship reignites inflation concerns, says ING

President Trump’s renewed trade offensive, which targets imports from roughly 60 countries with tariffs starting at 10%, has ING and other analysts revisiting their inflation playbooks for 2026. What’s actually happening with prices Core goods prices were running at just 1.1% year-over-year in early 2026, a figure that tells you Corporate America has been swallowing a meaningful chunk of these costs rather than passing them straight to shoppers. When earlier rounds of U.S. tariffs hit foreign appliances, consumers ultimately bore more than 60% of those costs, and appliance prices climbed roughly 12% in the aftermath. The new wave of measures, carrying rates of at least 10% on approximately 99% of imports from those targeted countries, is scheduled to kick in around July 24, 2026, replacing expiring provisions. ING’s read: concerned but not panicking ING’s February 2026 outlook kept its inflation and growth forecasts largely intact despite the new tariff slate, pointing to offsetting disinflationary forces including moderating rents and cooling wage growth. ING’s analysts flagged that sustained policy uncertainty tends to support longer-term interest rates, pushing up borrowing cost...