These 6 Budget-Friendly Products Could Disappear if Tariffs Hit Hard
Written by
Emily Fowler
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Despite ongoing legal uncertainties around Trump’s tariffs, rising import costs and shifting trade rules are already complicating supply chains and increasing prices.
While goods across the board are likely to feel the impact, it’s the small, cheap products quietly propping up daily life and checkout lanes that are at most risk of vanishing. Many of these budget-friendly staples are already teetering on the edge of profitability, and tariffs could push them out of stores entirely.
Here are some of the low-cost items that could be the first to go.
Cheap Electronics and Accessories
“The first items to go will probably be the add-ons,” explained Greg Zakowicz, Senior Ecommerce Expert at Omnisend. “Impulse buy” products like $5 wired earbuds and basic USB-C charging cables don’t have the margins to survive added import costs. Tariffs on manufacturing hubs mean retailers either pass on the cost or drop the product, with many choosing the latter.
Kitchen Gadgets
Things like peelers, garlic presses and silicone spatulas — small kitchen tools that used to cost less than lunch — might soon vanish from shelves. Often imported at razor-thin margins, they simply don’t justify restocking once prices climb. These are typically bundled into low-cost purchases and don’t survive even a $1 bump in cost.
Beauty Basics
The small, affordable staples in beauty aisles, like makeup sponges and eyelash curlers, are also particularly vulnerable. Tariffs could double the landed cost, especially for bulkier items that are cheap to make but expensive to ship. Once these essentials hit mid-range price points, they lose their appeal (and often their shelf space).
Pet Supplies
Lick mats, waste bag holders and grooming gloves are go-to buys for pet owners looking for value. But not for long, as Zakowicz said shoppers tend to jump to premium brands instead of paying a markup on items they used to grab for half the price.
Dollar Store Staples
The dollar store aisle was already under pressure after Covid-era inflation pushed prices past the $1 mark. According to Babak Hafezi, founder of Hafezi Capital and professor of international business at American University, tariffs erode not just price, but also product variety.
“What disappears first is choice,” he said. Chinese manufacturers have historically provided a wide range of low-cost options by competing on price and volume. Without that competition, shelves start to look thinner even before price tags go up.
Freebies No Longer Free
Plastic utensils, straws, sauce packets, napkins — the hidden infrastructure of takeout dining could be next. As Hafezi explained, restaurants rely on cheap mass imports for these extras. Once tariffs raise prices, the result is either smaller portions, fewer freebies or higher meal costs.
What Happens Next
As tariffs shift production to countries with higher costs and less scale, prices will rise and many of these inexpensive goods will quietly disappear. Retailers will favor items that justify shipping costs and can support higher margins. The result: fewer choices, fewer low-cost options and a new normal where the definition of “affordable” keeps moving.
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