US wholesale prices dropped 0.5% last month despite President Trump’s tariffs

WASHINGTON AP U S wholesale prices dropped unexpectedly in April for the first time in more than a year despite President Donald Trump s sweeping taxes on imports The producer price index which tracks inflation before it hits consumers fell last month from March and rose from April the U S Labor Department broadcasted Thursday Excluding volatile food and ability prices so-called core wholesale prices dipped from March and rose from a year earlier Economists had expected that producer prices rose modestly in April A drop in services prices brought the index down On Tuesday the Labor Department published that consumer prices rose just last month from April smallest year-over-year gain in more than four years Economists have predicted that Trump s tariffs would drive up prices and several expect the impact to show up in June or July Still Trump s tariffs are ever-changing so it s hard to forecast their economic impact On Monday for instance Trump unexpectedly agreed to a massive de-escalation of his bargain war with China third-biggest source of U S imports by scaling back his taxes on Chinese products to from China slashed its retaliatory tariffs on U S products from to Source