Raphael Stevens

The cost of some baby gear has risen in recent weeks due to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, according to a new congressional report.
New parents across the U.S. could collectively pay an additional $875.2 million for key baby products this year, the report found.
The analysis tracked the prices of five popular baby gear categories: car seats, bassinets, strollers, high chairs and baby monitors.

Baby car seat carriers for sale at a Walmart store in Secaucus, New Jersey, US, on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The cost of some baby gear has risen in recent weeks due to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, according to a new congressional report.
The cost of five common items bought for babies has increased 24%, or by $98 combined, between April 1 — the day before Trump’s sweeping April 2 tariff announcement — and June 9, according to the analysis by the Joint Economic Committee’s minority arm.

The analysis tracked the prices of five popular baby gear categories: car seats, bassinets, strollers, high chairs and baby monitors. It leaned on data from baby registry website Babylist.
“New parents already have their budgets stretched thin by all the products that they have to buy for their child – the last thing they need is a new tax on babies created by President Trump,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., ranking member of the committee, in a media release.
The findings come as companies grapple with Trump’s ever-changing tariff policies. Some have said they will work to mitigate the impact of the levies and offset the costs to consumers, meanwhile, others, including Best Buy and Costco, have said they already raised some prices. Walmart and Target said they plan to hike prices on some items.
Baby gear sold in the U.S. is specifically at risk of tariff impact because 97% of strollers and 87% of car seats are manufactured in China, according to Babylist.
The committee’s report tracked the prices of the most popular Amazon listings for products from five of Babylist’s categories of baby goods. The Amazon bestsellers included items from brands Graco, AirClub, Summer by Ingenuity, Evenflo and HelloBaby. The report measured the price increases over time using the price-checking websites Keepa.com and Camelcamelcamel.com.

Of the five items studied, the Graco car seat saw the highest price increase. The Graco SnugRide Lite LX Infant Car Seat got 44.8% more expensive over the measured time period. Prices for the other products that were reviewed rose between 10% and 30%.
A spokesperson for Graco owner Newell Brands told CNBC in a statement that the report appears to have started collecting data on the Graco car seat during a period when retailers were running a promotion.
The spokesperson said the car seat was on sale on April 1, so the price was hiked by about $20, not by $43, as suggested in the report.
Executives from Newell said during an April 30 earnings call that the company had raised prices on its baby gear by about 20%. The company said at the time it was equipped to handle Trump’s tariffs, excluding hypothetical further hikes on imports from China.
A broader Babylist analysis of 11 categories, including products like bouncers and diaper bags, found that costs increased by an average of $400 combined between March 10 and June 3. Those higher prices for new parent households in the U.S. amounts to $875.2 million in total additional costs, according to the analysis and based on data from the American Community Survey.
The study found particular risk for parents in California, with parents in that state collectively facing a potential $100.3 million in additional baby costs this year. That was followed by Texas at $85.3 million, Florida at $48.5 million and New York at $48.4 million, according to the report.
“Just in the last two months, the tariffs have made things even more difficult for new parents, forcing them to shoulder higher prices for car seats and other items that they absolutely need to keep their babies safe,” Hassan said in a statement to CNBC. “And the tariffs are already forcing some businesses to choose between laying off workers, raising prices for customers, or closing altogether.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. More

Most retail executives expect President Donald Trump to walk back “reciprocal” tariffs on the EU, Vietnam, India and the rest of the world, new survey results from AlixPartners shows.
Executives could be feeling more optimistic after recent court challenges and efforts between the U.S. and China to negotiate.
Still, countries like Vietnam and India don’t have as much leverage as China does and companies should continue to plan for other scenarios, said AlixPartners managing director Sonia Lapinsky.

A container truck and shipping containers are shown at the Port of Los Angeles, in San Pedro California, U.S., May 13, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters

Even retail executives are bullish on the “TACO trade.” 
Following weeks of shifting trade policy, early deals and winding court challenges, some retail executives are starting to feel more optimistic about President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, a new survey from consulting firm AlixPartners shows. 

The survey, which polled executives from brands, retailers and other consumer companies on June 1, found most respondents expect the president will walk back those steep duties on the European Union, Vietnam, India and Mexico after a 90-day pause lapses in July. Mexico wasn’t part of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs but has faced new levies from the administration, which respondents also expect will stay the same.
Imports from those areas and dozens of other countries are facing a 10% duty as the Trump administration tries to hammer out trade deals with individual nations. Most survey respondents expect those 10% tariffs to remain in effect — rather than the far higher rates originally imposed on April 2 — after those negotiations are complete. 
For example, 53% of retail executives expect tariffs on goods imported from Vietnam to stay at 10% after the delay ends, instead of the feared 46% “reciprocal” levy that could batter companies like Nike that import a major share of goods from the country.

For many retailers, Vietnam has become the next manufacturing frontier outside of China. Negotiations between the southeast Asian country and Washington D.C. have been closely watched, and the subject of many executives’ consternation in recent months. 
In the weeks after Trump announced then reduced the steep “reciprocal” tariffs, many executives feared they would end up being higher than 10%, said Sonia Lapinsky, a partner and managing director at AlixPartners, citing conversations the firm has had with retail leaders. 

But as June approached, the vibe started to shift, the survey results show. 
For one, the U.S. and China finally came to the negotiating table. Days before the survey was conducted, the U.S. Court of International Trade also ruled that Trump didn’t have the authority to impose the April 2 tariffs. While that ruling is on hold pending appeal from the Trump administration, the developments signaled to retailers that the tariffs could be scrapped altogether, the survey results show. 
“[Trump] is showing that he wants to make a deal, and that took a lot of effort for him to go and get that done at that stage. If we remember, even trying to get a meeting was very difficult for both sides to get done and yet they got progress made,” said Lapinsky. “I think the fact that there was some pushback that has since been retracted on allowing the tariffs to go through, I think could make some people feel more confident that potentially that could happen again.” 
In the days after the survey was conducted, Trump made a preliminary deal with China to maintain a new 30% tariff on imports, after he reduced a previous 145% duty.
It’s another sign to retail executives that tariffs on the rest of the world could remain at 10%, and shows their views may align with the so-called TACO trade – a critique coined by a Financial Times columnist that stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” 
The term describes a past pattern where Trump announces high tariffs and then later pauses or lightens them after markets react negatively. 
When asked about the term last month, Trump said it’s not about chickening out. 
“It’s called negotiation,” he said.
Still, Lapinsky cautioned that the optimism among retailers could be premature. 
“We can see that China could be at status quo, because there’s been such discussion about the deal making back and forth and the priorities of both countries to get something to work eventually, but these other countries don’t have the leverage that China has,” said Lapinsky.
“Whether they’re going to be able to negotiate keeping down a similar deal or not to me remains very unknown,” she continued. “I wouldn’t have expected that many retailers to say they thought it was going to stay status quo.” 
While more respondents expect the 10% tariff to remain in place in most regions outside of China, the responsible companies are planning for both, said Lapinsky. 
For example, 46% of respondents expect tariffs on imports from India to stay at 10%, instead of the proposed 26% levy. But 29% of respondents are also planning for both scenarios, where duties either stay the same or end up higher. More

Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, in western India, according to preliminary flight-path data.
There were 242 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known and could take months to determine.

A Boeing Dreamliner plane bound for London with 242 people aboard crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India.
Air India Flight 171 was flying out of Ahmedabad bound for London Gatwick Airport when it was “involved in a tragic accident today,” Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran said.

Video posted on social media appeared to show the jetliner descending followed by a fireball and a dark plume of smoke. It wasn’t clear if there were survivors, but if there are casualties, it would be the first fatal crash of a Boeing Dreamliner.

A view shows the rear of an Air India plane following its crash, in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
Central Industrial Security Forc | Via Reuters

The flight was operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a top-selling wide-body aircraft meant for longer routes. The aircraft was delivered to Air India in 2014, according to flight-tracking site FlightRadar24.
The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known and could take months to determine. Under international protocols during crashes, the country where the incident took place will lead the investigation, along with officials, the maker of the aircraft and its engines, and others.
Initial flight-path data “shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute,” FlightRadar said on X.
The more than 11-year-old plane had 41,000 hours of flight time, nearly 8,000 takeoffs, which are average for that aircraft and the year it was built, according to aviation-data firm Cirium.

Rescue team members work as smoke rises at the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
Amit Dave | Reuters

“We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them,” Boeing said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”
Flights at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, a major airport in the area, were temporarily suspended in the wake of the incident and resumed a few hours later, according to India’s government press bureau.
“Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families,” said Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, India’s aviation minister, in a post on X.

People gather near a damaged building at the site where an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
Amit Dave | Reuters

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it will send a team of investigators to India.
The incident occurred just before the high-profile Paris Air Show trade event set for next week, where both Boeing and rival Airbus were set to announce hundreds of aircraft orders.
Boeing has also been working to turn a corner from a years of safety and quality crises and has made strides, though it remained unclear on Thursday whether an aircraft quality problem was in play in the Air India crash.
Boeing shares were down more than 5% in premarket trading.
This is a developing story and will be updated shortly. More

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named eight new members to a crucial government panel of vaccine advisors after firing the entire group just days earlier. 
The new members will join the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
His picks include some well-known vaccine critics, including Dr. Robert Malone.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new members to a crucial government panel of vaccine advisors after firing the entire group just days earlier. 
His picks include some well-known vaccine critics, including Dr. Robert Malone.

The new members will join the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group reviews vaccine data and makes recommendations that determine who is eligible for shots and whether insurers should cover them, among other efforts.
The CDC director has to sign off on those recommendations for them to become official policy.
The eight new advisors will attend ACIP’s planned meeting on June 25 to 27, Kennedy said in a post on X on Wednesday. Seventeen members previously served on ACIP.
It is unclear now how, taken together, the new advisors will affect vaccine policy and availability in the U.S. But public health experts had expected Kennedy could choose members who share his skepticism of immunization.
“We all knew this would happen and it’s a national tragedy and a major threat to children’s health and lives,” Lawrence Gostin, professor of public health law at Georgetown University, said in a post on X.

Kennedy said his picks include “highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians.” He said they are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense.”
Malone suggested earlier this year, without evidence, that recent deaths from measles among children were due to medical errors rather than the virus itself. Malone bills himself as having played a key role in the creation of mRNA vaccines, but has become a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement.
Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA’s independent panel of vaccine advisers, called some of the new members “anti-vaccine activists.”
“I think the public is not going to be getting the same quality of advice as we had before the purge,” he told CNBC. “I think the people who were on the committee that just got fired had far greater expertise in the areas that you needed expertise than this group.”
Offit said he expects recommendations from ACIP to be “less informed” with the new members.
HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on some members holding anti-vaccine views.
Here are Kennedy’s picks: 

Dr. Robert Malone – a physician and vaccine critic who conducted early research on mRNA vaccine technology.
Dr. Joseph Hibbeln – a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who was formerly the acting chief of the section of nutritional neurosciences in the Laboratory of Membrane Biophysics & Biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Martin Kulldorff – a biostatistician and epidemiologist, who was dismissed at Harvard Medical School last year after blasting the university for how it handled the Covid-19 pandemic. He has served on the Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and the CDC’s vaccine safety subgroup of ACIP.
Retsef Levi – a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management who has also served as faculty director of the school’s food supply chain analytics and sensing initiative. 
Dr. Cody Meissner – a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He has held advisory roles with both the CDC and FDA, and has been a voting member of ACIP and the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee.
Dr. James Pagano – a board-certified emergency medicine physician who has served on multiple hospital committees.
Dr. Michael Ross – a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University. He has served on the CDC’s Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer.
Vicky Pebsworth – a nurse with a PhD in public health, who has previously served on FDA vaccine advisory committees.

But Pebsworth is a nurse on the board of The National Vaccine Information Center. That organization has been widely criticized as a leading source of misinformation and fearmongering about immunization.
Meanwhile, Levi slammed mRNA vaccines in a post on X in 2023, which was still pinned to the top of his account Wednesday afternoon.
“The evidence is mounting and indisputable that MRNA vaccines cause serious harm including death, especially among young people,” Levi wrote. “We have to stop giving them immediately!”
Offit said Meissner is the most qualified pick of the group, saying he’s an expert and a “good choice.”
In a Dartmouth article in 2024, Meissner called measles vaccines “very safe and highly effective.”
“Parents need to make sure that their children are getting their vaccinations so cases don’t go up,” he said.
Kennedy previously downplayed the ongoing measles outbreak in the U.S. and has spread unfounded claims that vaccines against the virus contain fetal cells.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. More