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.
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Halloween's joy sours into economic dread under tariff pressures.
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
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Last Friday, Trump flat-out torpedoed a much-anticipated zero-emissions deal for the global shipping industry, smashing it apart at the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Financial Times lays it all bare: to kill the net-zero shipping pact, Trump didn’t just lean on the usual diplomatic muscle—Washington went full gangster. Think raised port fees, outright bans on ships passing through America, and direct threats, and even personal intimidation of diplomats and their families, with entry bans waved in their faces like warning flags.
The Financial Times lays it out: over a dozen diplomats, foreign officials, and industry insiders watched the US throw diplomacy in the mud at last month’s London summit. Washington came armed with bullying tactics, determined to smash the net-zero shipping pact by brute force.
US Bullying Blocks IMO’s Green Shipping Deal—Vote Delayed a Year. IMO website image.
US officials didn’t bother with backroom deals—they stalked the halls, cornering diplomats from Africa, the Pacific, and the Caribbean. The message was simple: cross the United States, and your ships might not reach America. Rock the boat, and your family could be locked out. These weren’t idle whispers. The intimidation played out in broad daylight during coffee breaks.
Social Media Taunts, Policy Upends
Trump didn’t bother hiding his true feelings. On social media, he slammed the agreement as a “global green shipping tax scam.” But this wasn’t just venting. In April, most countries had already green-lit the framework. It was set to become real policy—until Trump’s team blew it up, forcing a one-year “pause.” The global momentum froze on the spot.
One diplomat cut to the heart of it: “It’s like the streets of New York.” His country got the warning firsthand—keep backing the deal, and watch your sailors’ visas disappear. US port fees? Those would rise too. Another attendee was even more blunt: IMO bigwigs were left gobsmacked. “It’s like dealing with the mafia,” they said. “You don’t need details. You just know: cross us, and you’ll pay.”
The US State Department kept mum on the intimidation claims. Instead, American officials handed out praise to Greece and Cyprus. Those two broke rank from the rest of the EU—they cast abstention votes in the big one-year adjournment, even after they already gave the framework the green light back in April.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, ahead of the IMO meeting in London, issued a joint statement with senior Trump officials warning that the administration was "evaluating sanctions on officials sponsoring activist-driven climate policies that would burden American consumers, among other measures under consideration." As Greece and Cyprus sided with the U.S., much of Europe—and the world—reacted with surprise.
Global Rules or American Muscle?
Chatham House’s head of global economy Creon Butler didn’t mince words. The US, he said, has ditched long-standing diplomatic etiquette. Instead, Washington's now muscling countries into backing its stance—especially on climate.
America Threatens: Support This, Your Crews and Ports Pay.
“In the very short term this might work, but in the medium term it increases the chances that non-US countries will conclude they cannot work with the US, making agreements independently among themselves which simply work around the US,” he said. Sooner or later, the rest of the world will ink deals that leave America in the dust.
The pushback reached fever pitch at the IMO. Brazil, among others, called out the methods “that should not ever be used among sovereign nations”. Washington wasn’t just rattling individuals—entire capitals, from Bangladesh to Japan and Indonesia, got notes threatening diplomatic smackdowns.
But let’s step back. The drive for a net-zero shipping pact isn’t about feel-good climate slogans.
As Niu Tanqin from Xinhua puts it: The pact itself is a brass-tacks response to global warming’s mounting cost. Whether you like it or not, global warming is simply an undisputable fact. Everyone is scrambling to stall off the climate catastrophes looming on the horizon.
So, in order to squeeze carbon emission: if your ship emits less than the set limit, you’re rewarded. Above the cut-off, you pay. China, the EU, Japan, India, Brazil—all were in. Even the big shipping companies joined the chorus.
Only a handful of oil states—think Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE—pushed back. Pacific island nations, unconvinced the pact was tough enough, simply abstained.
Trump Says Global Warming’s a Scam—US Walks Out.
Then, everything changed. Once Trump 2.0 manifested, the US flipped from supporter to saboteur. In his mind, climate change is a hoax—or worse, a Chinese plot to corner American interests. Stopping this agreement wasn’t just policy—it was personal. He didn’t mind stooping low—pulling out every trick in the high school bully’s playbook: pressure, threats, and outright intimidation to make sure America got its way.
One official wasn’t shy: “It was completely exceptional. I have never heard of anything like this in the context of an IMO negotiation. These people [being threatened] are just bureaucrats, they are civil servants.”
If international law becomes a mere cheap disguise, you can bet real power will be the one pulling the strings.
Pause Button Pressed—World Left Reeling
Now, the deal waits on ice for another year, while “the world stares, shell-shocked”—witnesses to a new era of American brinkmanship.
Not the first time, either. Just look at tariffs: if Washington’s unhappy, it writes its own tax bill—no debate required. Venezuela and Nigeria have both fielded threats of military action; Canada and Panama know the taste of territorial intimidation. Lawless? That’s par for the course.
But payback, as always, has a funny way of coming due. Today, the US bullies island nations and slaps down climate claims. Tomorrow, who’s next? When “might makes right” replaces rules, every nation that depends on order will lose out. True justice may come late—but it never skips its date. Chip away at the pillars of fairness, and sooner or later, you bury the very house you live in.
The real question: how long can America’s strong-arm show go on before the world walks out?
