June Charts of Interest: Tariffs Are Driving Prices Bananas

Trader Joe’s charged $0.19 per banana for many years. Then last year, the grocer raised the price to $0.23 per banana. Further increases are a possibility since the May consumer price index (CPI) report showed that banana prices are continuing to climb.

Blame tariffs for the latest increase. As Axios points out, the short shelf life of bananas made it impossible for importers to stockpile them before this year’s new tariffs went into effect.

The free banana given out to runners at the end of races just got more valuable.