TikTok users are prepping for tariffs to raise grocery prices with anti-Trump stickers

A small business is cashing in on President Donald Trump’s tariffs with a new viral product: stickers of Donald Trump pointing with the caption “I did that.” 

A TikTok post from Atomic Cactus Stickers, with 231.9K views, encouraged viewers to buy the stickers through the app’s shop and place them everywhere from grocery stores to gas pumps. The merch starts at $5 for a five-pack, up to $80 for a pack of 200. 

“They need to go everywhere just like the Biden ones,” one user commented. Another added, “Print these on eggshell stickers please.” One comment read: “I hope you have tons in stock. You’re going to need billions and billions for everything that inflates.”

This isn’t the first time stickers like this have been spotted. In August 2021, alt-right provocateur Jack Posobiec shared a photo on X showing a gas pump adorned with a sticker of a grinning Joe Biden pointing at the meter, which read $97.60 for 29 gallons. “I did that!” the sticker read. 

These merch stickers became a staple in the campaign to pin blame on Biden for everything from inflation to rising gas prices. By late 2021, as gas prices climbed, the stickers began cropping up on pumps across the country, much to the annoyance of gas station employees tasked with scraping them off. Hundreds of vendors sold the merch online, with variations including Kamala Harris stickers proclaiming, “And I Helped!,” or Donald Trump stickers declaring, “I Can Fix That.”

Now, it’s Trump’s turn in the sticker-based hot seat. While the president has not yet imposed the tariffs he promised on the campaign trail, they are reportedly coming February 1 and will lead to “massive amounts of money” entering the U.S. Treasury. “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump said during his inauguration speech. “Tariffs are going to make us rich as hell,” he continued. “It’s going to bring our country’s businesses back.”

The president has pledged import duties of 25% on Canada and Mexico, as well as 10% on global imports and 60% on Chinese goods. Imported goods are a key driver of the American economy, totaling $2.9 trillion in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. China, Canada, and Mexico account for more than 40% of that volume.

Economists have now warned that these tariffs could stoke inflation, forcing the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates, and costs will largely fall on American consumers. The left-leaning Center for American Progress has estimated that Trump’s trade plans could cost the typical household an extra $1,500 annually.

Stickers in hand, people are ready to hold Trump accountable.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91267685/tiktok-users-are-prepping-for-tariffs-to-raise-grocery-prices-with-anti-trump-stickers?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss