Following on the shock of large and sudden price increases in Apple and Microsoft consumer products in June, a “second wave of inflation,” this time in prices for imported manufactured goods, began to be visible last month, according to the July 17 “Wolf Street” column by Wolf Richter. These manufactured goods prices will reportedly be pulled up by prices of imported elements of computers and electronic products, and driven by the insatiable recent war-focused demand for AI models and data centers.
By the first wave of inflation, the author means that of 2021 to early 2023, when there was “supply chain” chaos and import prices rose dramatically; U.S. imports amount to about $3.3 trillion annually. Import prices then fell back, and were relatively flat until the start of 2026. But they rose by 6.6% in the first half of 2026, and were up by 7.1% as of June, relative to June 2025. These prices, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Labor Department, do not include tariffs. This price rise was offset by sharply falling oil-product prices, but these are rising again since the U.S.-Iran MoU was broken.
