
4. Kind Bars
- April price: $19.99
- June price: $17.69
- December price: $20.08
Perhaps one of the most surprising price increases comes from Kind bars, which are made in the United States. In fact, their price initially dropped between April and June, falling from $19.99 to $17.69—a $2.30 decrease that seemed to contradict fears of tariff-driven inflation.
By December, however, the price had climbed to $20.08, surpassing even the pre-tariff level.
This illustrates an important point: tariffs don’t only affect imported finished goods. Domestically produced products can still become more expensive if their ingredients, packaging, machinery, or transportation services are affected by tariffs. Nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, and wrappers may come from abroad, and higher costs for those inputs eventually show up in the final price.
Kind bars demonstrate how tariff impacts can be delayed and uneven. Initial discounts or promotions may mask rising costs, but over time, those pressures tend to surface.