Halloween Turns into Tariff Terror for Americans

Halloween is only five days away, but forget the fun and frights—this year, American families face a real nightmare: skyrocketing prices from US tariffs on Chinese goods. Costumes, decorations, and candy costs are exploding, forcing households to slash budgets or ditch the holiday altogether.

Halloween's joy sours into economic dread under tariff pressures.

The National Retail Federation's October 23 report lays it bare: 79% of Americans brace for pricier Halloween hauls, shelling out more for outfits, decor, and sweets. NRF projects a record $13.1 billion in US spending this year, up from $11.6 billion last time, with per-person outlay hitting $14.45—a $1 jump that stings.

Picture Chris Zephro on California's Santa Cruz Island, staring down his toughest stretch in 15 years running a Halloween warehouse. Gory latex masks, Saw movie props, and zombie gear fill the shelves, but unlike the fake blood, his business bleeds real cash—over $800,000 in tariffs since Trump's April crackdown on Chinese imports. It's led to his first-ever layoffs: 15 workers out the door.

"That was one of the worst days of my life," Zephro recalls. "These were my friends; I know their families and I'm hoping to bring them back." He adds helplessly, "I would love to have a conversation closed doors with Trump, because he's not an idiot. He took the same classes in business school that I took, so let's drop the veil," he said. "This is Economics 101. Tariffs are paid by importers."

Chris Zephro.

Tariffs Bite Importers Hard

Trump's tariffs don't stop at warehouses—they slam straight into shoppers' wallets, turning holiday cheer into hard choices. Importers absorb the hit first, but everyday buyers feel the pinch.

Reyna Hernandez in California hunts for a costume hat for her 6-year-old son, only to balk at the $30 tag. "It's just ridiculous. We cannot even afford this at all. Like, a lot of people are not going to be able to afford a costume this year," Hernandez said. She's piecing together the outfit in installments now, stretching every dollar.

Ryan Goldman, running a Halloween costume chain, fights to shield customers from the full blast. "The idea is to hold as many prices as we can knowing that because of tariffs, things are going to go up," Goldman said. "But we don't want (higher prices) to be 100% across the board. That's not fair." He pegs costume hikes at $5 to $10 on average, propping up kids' sizes by jacking adult ones higher.

Candy and Booze Get Pricier

Tariffs creep beyond costumes into the candy aisle, where Halloween's sweet staple turns sour on budgets. Hershey's claims no change, but shoppers spot a 48-bar chocolate box leaping from $40 to over $50. Blame it on tariffs plus West Africa's weather woes slashing cocoa output—global production dipped 12.9% last year to 4.37 million tons, a 494,000-ton shortfall unseen in 60 years. Prices doubled as Côte d'Ivoire output fell 25.3% and Ghana's plunged 31.3%, per Reuters.

Even adult treats feel the squeeze—US tariffs on European wines and spirits kill any festive discount dreams. No breaks for French, Italian, or Spanish vintages, nor Scotch whisky. The EU shipped $3.4 billion in spirits to the US last year; now those bottles climb in price, dimming the party vibe.

Families fight back with DIY hacks amid the price storm and shortages. At Ohio State University's costume studio, director Mayer pushes thrift-store raids: snag cheap clothes, shred them, dust with powder for instant zombies. Start budgeting early, she says, and your getup looks sharper when it counts—turning tariff pain into creative wins.

Halloween ranks fourth in US sales holidays, trailing only the winter rush, back-to-school frenzy, and Mother's Day. Yet Trump's tariffs cast a long shadow—merchants and buyers alike groan that this year's tricks feel more terrifying than any treat or ghost.

Deep Throat

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

On 21 February, U.S. President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social platform with a pointed announcement: he would team up with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry to dispatch a large medical vessel to Greenland, citing the plight of "many people who are sick and not being taken care of there." Trump claimed the ship was already en route. However, his plan was rejected by Denmark, so was his claim that sick people in Greenland were not taken care of.

The reality is, anyone who has been tracking Chinese diplomacy over the past year would recognize this playbook instantly. On 5 September 2025, the Chinese Navy's hospital ship Silk Road Ark departed Quanzhou, Fujian Province, bound for the South Pacific and Latin America to execute Mission Harmony 2025 — a sustained, documented humanitarian deployment that Trump's announcement conspicuously mirrors.

The results have been concrete and verifiable: officers and crew have delivered medical services to communities across South America, with cumulative outpatient visits reaching 22,000.

According to a CCTV report dated the 22nd, the Silk Road Ark has been navigating the Eastern Pacific for over 20 consecutive days. During the Lunar New Year holiday, the ship's command overhauled its food storage and temperature-controlled preservation systems — all to ensure officers and crew could sit down to a fresh, nutritious New Year's Eve dinner. The kitchen team, it turns out, had a few tricks up their sleeves.

Ingenuity in the Pacific

Make no mistake: ocean voyages present brutal logistical challenges, and fresh soy products are among the first casualties of long resupply intervals. So squad leader Ban Hangyuan — nicknamed "Tofu Sergeant" by his crewmates — improvised. He soaked soybeans, ground them into a slurry, boiled and filtered the liquid, then used purified seawater to slowly coagulate the curd. After pressing it into moulds and letting it set for an hour, smooth, silky-white "Silk Road Ark"-brand "seawater tofu" came straight out of the mould — and promptly became the most popular signature dishes among the crew.

Though the ship sailed 13 time zones from home, a spirit of reunion filled every corner of the vessel. On New Year's Eve, the dining hall was decked with lanterns and streamers, warm with the full flavour of the season. A steaming banquet — ten auspicious dishes, balanced between meat and vegetables and rich in nutrition — was served hot, and the crew raised their glasses in toast.

To date, the Silk Road Ark has visited six countries — Nauru, Fiji, Tonga, Jamaica, Barbados, and Brazil — with technical port calls in Nicaragua and Uruguay. The cumulative tally: 22,148 outpatient consultations, 2,417 surgeries, 120 inpatient admissions, and 12 medical exchange sessions. Each stop has deepened China's friendly medical cooperation with the countries visited.