The figure, Aug. 22 -- The spiral notebook that a parent in Ohio needed for her daughter's seventh grade cost $4.79 at Target this month. She didn't notice the small text on the import label. But someone in Washington was watching: according to a new analysis by the National Taxpayers Union, that notebook, along with every other item on a typical school supply list, is now carrying hidden tariff costs that add up to $147.60 before the first day of class.

gym bags, pencils, sweatshirts, bicycles, calculators, notebooks, and lunch bags. It is not the price families pay for each item; it is how much of that price exists solely because of import duties that have surged since 2024. Some of those rates have risen by more than 400 percent in tw...