> To create NPR's basket, we consulted the lists from 2018 of tariffs the White House imposed on imports from China, but also Mexico and Canada — as well as Chi

> To create NPR's basket, we consulted the lists from 2018 of tariffs the White House imposed on imports from China, but also Mexico and Canada — as well as China's retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made products. The products were picked not to represent an average shopping cart at Walmart (because we already do that and it’s called the CPI), but to specifically target items which they thought would be hardest hit by tariffs. It’s an entirely unscientific report showing price changes at a single store with an artificial basket of goods with no attempt whatsoever to control for independent variables. In short, it tells us nothing at best, and is misinformation at worst. It’s hard to tell if the effort was even done in good faith. Then again, TFA’s first sentence is “Shoppers beware.” Maybe that tells us all we need to know. I am actually a bit surprised that first sentence made it to print.