The ABC7 I-Team is finding out what this could mean for consumers' budgets at the stores and why they may want to cash in now on January sales.
Supporters of tariff increases say that they help fund the government while promoting the sales of domestic goods made in the U.S.
Critics say they could raise the prices of some items, which Americans have been used to getting deals on.
TVs, computers, appliances and clothing can still be found at reasonable prices right now. According to the U.S. consumer price index, while overall inflation and grocery costs have gone up, prices of many of these other items have gone down or only increased slightly. But could those prices skyrocket, if President-elect Trump increases tariffs?
"Yeah, so I mean, when you're looking at things like computers, laptops, televisions, all of those types of things. I mean, it's possible you could see 10 to 20% overall cost increases," said Aaron Cirksena, founder and CEO of MDRN Capital.
Those tariffs are like a tax which other countries pay on goods they import to America.
"If we're thinking about things like TVs and appliances and things like that which obviously have large manufacturing bases in China," Cirksena said. "Is it possible that those companies could, you know, absorb the increased price of bringing in those goods? Sure. Is it a likely scenario that they're going to absorb 100% of those increases? Probably not."
Cirksena says those possible costs, passed on to the consumer, is up in the air.
"There's been talks of sort of 10 to 20% tariffs on just basically all imported goods," Cirksena said. "And then when you're looking at countries like China, Canada, and Mexico. Specifically, there's been talk of 60% tariffs on imports from China, 25% from Canada and Mexico."
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Cirksena and other experts say now may be the time to look for a bargain. Many stores rolling out sales before -and on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. You could find sales on appliances, electronics, and mattresses.
"If you were already thinking about it. It's not a bad time to be looking at making those purchases," Cirksena said.
The possible cost increases come as consumers are already fighting overall inflation, which has raised grocery costs by more than 20% over the last four years.
President-elect Trump says those costs could come down by fixing supply chain issues and drilling more oil.