U.S. residents are becoming increasingly anxious about rising inflation and the looming risk of a recession, following the Trump administration's imposition of broad tariffs on trade partners.
Interviews by China Global Television Network (CGTN) with residents in Los Angeles and Miami revealed their concerns about inflation, panic buying, and the strain on household budgets.
"It's going to affect everybody's lives, and everything is increasing, has been, and continues to go up," said one Los Angeles resident in a supermarket parking lot.
While some have already taken steps to buy imported items like electronics from China, others expressed deep unease over how these economic pressures are impacting their finances.
"We kind of anticipated that there might be tariffs in the coming year. We kind of looked through and thought, what are the things that need replacing? What are the items that are going to cost a lot? And one of those things is electronics. So, we ended up buying some electronics that just needed some upgrading, because we figured that there's a good chance that those things are going to get relatively decent tariffs on them in the future," said a resident.
"We work really hard for everything we work for. And then, just to come over here and obviously have to adjust certain things to get. We're obviously seeing the increase of prices on everything, that necessities end up changing when you don't have enough, you have to switch things around, grab other things instead of the things you might want," said another resident.
Meanwhile, consumers in Miami have begun stocking up on daily necessities, driven by concerns over potential price hikes.
"I have been preparing very well because I come here every day to pick up everything I can before these prices go up. It's going to be terrible, I believe in my heart. I grew up in New York in 1960s to the 1970s, the recession happened when people went out in the streets, started burning places, and I couldn't come out. My mother wasn't even going to let me come out. It's going to be worse," said a resident.
"It's awful. It's calling [on] survival. I'm going to survive. I don't know. It's already expensive. Keep on pinching pennies. What else can I do?" said another resident.
Inflation fears drive panic buying, budget strain across US
