Businesses told Fed they will raise prices with onset of Trump’s tariffs

Businesses large and small are signaling they could raise prices with the onset of President Donald Trump’s tariffs even if consumers can't swallow it. At least that is the view of companies that participated in the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book, which collects anecdotal evidence across the Fed's 12 regional bank districts. What the Fed found in conversations conducted in February was that companies are having a hard time passing on input costs to customers. Business contacts in most Fed districts expected tariffs would cause them to raise prices. There were also isolated reports of companies preemptively raising prices. Read…